Castle Slaves
by SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta
Summary: A captured Saiyan Prince struggles for survival in a harsh city. His life makes unexpected twists and turns leading him to Ghost, the Urban Legend. Rated M for Cruelty in later chapters Note: Completely original Vegeta storyline, does not follow the Sho
1. A Memory

**Jronia**

Written By: SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Introduction**

Fifty years after the last sighting of the Ghost, two hunters ventured out from the Ghost Tavern and walked toward the forest. In their hands they held small weapons and some traps, a bit of rope, and shackles specially designed. As they left, the bartender shook his head. "They're as good as dead if they plan to hunt the Ghost. They will not come back out of that forest like so many others before them."

A patron looked over at him. "Ghost? Who is the Ghost? Why is he so feared around here and what is the story behind this legend?"

Tomoray looked at him. "Come closer and I will tell you."

With that the patron and the bartender walked to an unoccupied part of the rather small tavern and then the room grew quiet, in eerie stillness as the bartender poured the man a cup of coffee. "The Ghost has been here now for over 75 years and some say he still looks as he did when he first arrived."

The cave opened up in a moment's notice with the rolling away of a stone and the Ghost vanished into the dark depths before two hunters. Both looked at each other and both knew that they had to follow should they hope to catch this ever elusive legend of the Southern Forest. Ghost was a notorious prowler that stalked the City at night and slipped away without trace that he was ever there. A highly noted escape artist and so silent that he seemed just that, a ghost. They had heard the rumor of the Lair in which he lived in and of the many who had tried to go in after him and never came out.

Still the men looked into the cave before them and in the back wall was another opening to wherever it was it led to. No one knew these caves better than the one they were chasing and going in could mean certain death. It was starting to create more fear in the hearts of the Jronian Free than the name of the Shadow Dragon that ruled over them. They only looked at each other and turned back away from the gaping maw of the cave entrance and then headed back for town. Behind them however, the Ghost stalked them and in the silence of the night, he jumped down before them. Golden flames seem to come alive and swirled around him in a burning fury as the hunters froze. Before anything could be done, they were on the ground and their necks snapped and the Ghost gone.

Back in the City, they knew that there were two more casualties this night and once more the rumors of the Ghost were proved true. There was little anyone could do and the ones that dared venture into the Southern Forest knew that they may never return. The bartender stood a bit haggard and worn but he knew the Ghost well, and in his mind he cheered on the Legend more as a small grin crept to his face. "Beware of going to the Southern Forest at night. Legend has it, if you're out there to take anything not your's, you will perish in the attempt of taking it. Any and all slaves that have ever been lost in there have not returned to the City and the Owners will not go after them."

The patron looked at him. "This Ghost you speak of, how did he come to be?"

Tomoray shook his head. "Stories of that are few and not many dare speak of it for fear of their own lives. Dare I say, they fear the Ghost more than they do Syn and rightfully so. No one has been able to hold the Ghost and those that try often end up losing their lives. I owned him once, but due to my saving his life once, I am alive today. Some say he's a warrior of code, others say he's a menace, and yet more say that he's a Legend not to be trifled with."

Quietly the patron listened as the older man looked to the other new tourists to this City, some wanting to just glimpse the Ghost for themselves and others to see if the stories were true. They gathered round a fireplace and the bartender looked to the fire burning behind the mesh of the fireplace. The flames danced in his pale blue eyes as he began to speak. "My real name is Tojar and I was there when he came to Jronia. I watched him come off the craft and step foot upon the ground for the first time and it was at that moment that we made first eye contact. Even bound up and muzzled, I knew something about him was different."

The group leaned in to listen to the story. Joral looked at Tomoray quietly and then leaned forward intently as the old retired trainer again began. "I was the first one to handle him and even then he could take a beating and still come back at you with such fire and intensity that it could unnerve the sturdiest of us and his intelligence and wisdom is so far unsurpassed. Back 75 years ago this place was ruled by a Shadow Dragon named Syn. Ghost was still unknown at the time but that would all change, same with every person in this City. Some stayed evil and others went their separate ways, and some, like myself stayed behind to remind the visitors and the residents of Jronia about the Urban Legend."


	2. Arrivals

Jronia

By SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Chapter One**

**Arrivals**

The wind blew coldly through the muddy streets that lay in a grid through this major city. Here there were three types of people, the slave, the free, and the master. The free dealt with the slaves of the city but preferred not to own one, then there were the masters that roamed were more into the slave life. They bought, sold, traded, worked, and even sometimes killed the slaves in this vast city. It was not a place you wanted to be a slave either as treatment here was harsh and brutal.

Building after building stretched forth as far as the eye could see some small like cottages, others large and spacious. Noise and dust marked it as a busy trade city that dealt in all kinds of things, and often they would have to bring in more slaves to fill the quota of products produced. This day a silence hung around a particular building set near the center of the sprawling metropolis. A crowd of many races bustled around in wait, and a comfortable talk could be heard coming from them. For the most part, it looked like a regular city with the others going this way and that.

However if one listened closer to the conversation they spoke more of one particular person, Tojar. He was noted as the best slave breaker in the city and the tall man was well aware of what shipment was coming and which were going, but he had a feeling that something would be different. This ship coming in carried a most unusual prize to be traded off for a commodity. Tojar's large hand trailed over a black steel shock collar which he would use to replace any type of collar used in the capture. It was a special type of collar though, one that could not be taken off without the original papers signed setting him free or if they were completely destroyed. There were a few other things to that collar as well, but he waited for this craft to come in.

He looked to the light coming through his door to the large barn like building that spanned out in a wide isle between four rows of what looked like cells, that they called stalls. Each stall was seven feet long and five feet wide, no larger. Inside each was a food and water dish, a chain ring on the back wall, and straw that covered the floor as bedding. Seeing how one could be locked in here for several days at a time, even months, each stall was equipped with a drain system to allow slaves to relieve themselves and it would drop through a hole in the grating and plunge directly into the sewers below eliminating the need to have to muck the stalls out. A hard wood combined with a special steel made up the bottom half of these stalls. Bars of the same special steel stretched from the wood to a thicker bar running across the top, only a couple inches lower than the high ceiling.

Tojar was a large man standing up to 6 feet 4 inches tall, very muscular and yet quiet. His father had worked and trained slaves and passed on his knowledge to Tojar, sometimes letting the young man try his hand at breaking and training the slaves that came through. He had taken it to memory and even began to love the feel of power he gained when he broke his first slave, the flame that flickered so lively in their eyes smothered by his own overpowering will. Now he waited for the arrival of this craft which should be at any moment. Almost in silence he stood and walked out to the gathered crowd and stared skyward as a small dot appeared in the deeper blue sky of mid afternoon.

The large craft hovered slowly down and Tojar gripped up his needed supplies and the black steel shock collar. His hands fidgeted with it lightly, never had he ever had to grip a collar made of such a design, but chances couldn't be risked as the craft landed and the door opened heralding the arrival of new slaves and the crowd murmured a little louder.


	3. Meeting

**Jronia**

By SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Chapter 2**

**Meeting**

The arrival of the craft heralded a larger crowd and they watched in eagerness to see what types of new slaves would be up for the bidding come time of the Auction. Several brutish and very trim guards came down the ramp first and then a rattling of chains could be heard as they were violently jerked and yanked. It wasn't the guards though that were doing the pulling and struggling, it was the slave that was bound in them. Fiery coal black eyes were flickering madly with the rage and intensity that they had trouble bringing him down the ramp. The prisoner wasn't too tall, standing at a height of five feet, five inches tall and black hair that stood like a candle flame. A loose blue shirt covered the steel like muscles that quivered in rage set with a matching pair of pants that hugged his form nicely. White boots that reached to mid-calf was complimented with a pair of white gloves that covered up to his forearms, half way to his elbows.

Cold eyes wildly looked around as he was drug down the ramp in spite of setting his feet and trying to stall them. Shackles hobbled his feet at the ankles and his wrists were tightly bound behind his back preventing him from being able to choke or really fight his captors. He gave a muffled growl of defiance under his steel meshed muzzle as he was forced down the ramp, a whip cracked harshly upon his back causing him to nearly wheel around but only earned him another lash and then a shove to keep going. His gaze fell upon the large building that loomed before him like a huge barn awaiting for his arrival.

Grudgingly he gazed to his new surroundings looking to the crowd, knowing if he had his ki abilities, he would have already killed them and taken off once more from this planet, but all that had been drained from him in a fight when the slavers found him. They had shot several darts of a serum to sap his ki from him leaving him only enough to live and work on, no more, no less. The collar they had upon him right now was not going to hold him much longer as they fought his resisting temper. Rough hands gripped his arms trying to carry him along even with the struggle this prisoner was putting up, they seemed to take him inside the building with relative ease where they paused.

Tojar came out and looked at the new arrival and for a brief moment they locked eyes, cold pale blue eyes met the raging fire of the coal black. For a second they saw each other on a deeper level than just captive and captor, they gazed into each other's will power, their own life flame. The pale blue were unrelenting, unshifting. The coal black were determined, unyielding. Both were never once broken, never once tasted the bitterness of captivity nor the harshness of slavery. Now one was a master, the other a slave, and that's what brought Tojar here as he slipped the cold black steel shock collar upon the throat of the Saiyan before him. It fit him a little loose, but it would now remain locked upon that throat.

They pushed him on into a numbered stall, 39 was the number that was etched in brass upon the door as they unlocked it and then took him in, taking the chain and clipped it to the collar then they hurriedly backed up. Locking the new prisoner in the confinement of the stall. They looked at him in silent mockery and four tranqs were fired into his hide, making the 23 year old Saiyan Prince fall to deep slumber. Then Tojar walked in and gave an injection to his neck, unfastening the muzzle for now and unbinding him of his restraints save for the chain locked upon the collar. Now all they had to do was wait for Vegeta to wake up.


	4. Law of the Collar

Jronia

By SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

Chapter 3

Law of the Collar

Vegeta slowly woke from the realm of deep sleep, his eyes felt extremely heavy, his reactions slow from the drug that was put into his body. He gave a light growl as he shifted unsteadily trying to get back up to his feet, though as he moved the sound of a chain played in his ears with a soft rattle. As he lifted his head, he felt the weight of the heavy chain upon the newly placed collar and then looked to the wall. Still dazed, he reached a hand up to inspect the foreign object upon his throat that now encircled it.

The steel band was smooth, but he furrowed a brow as he found no clasp to this collar, no way to remove it from his neck, at least, not yet. He would have to await his ki strength to come back before he tried anything drastic. It was turning to a game of patience and will, two he could have long wind of if needed. Finally managing to his feet he gazed around in a silent scowl as he heard faint sounds from other stalls nearby.

Three stalls down was another slave and though in the other's eyes, Vegeta could see the spirit had long since vanished from the prisoner. His brow furrowed deeper, already not in his best temper, his coal eyes burned with silent rage at being captured and held as such. They gazed at each other for a long time it seemed, the wild spirit looking to one that had given up hope of someone ever breaking the vicious cycle that ruled this city.

Quietly the older man spoke up. "The fight is not easy. Many of us just try to survive as you will soon know as well. There is no hope left once you have a collar about your neck and I see one upon your's. That black band sealed your fate the moment you were captured."

Vegeta scoffed a bit. He had yet to see what this place was like but he refused to give up just because one person had given in. "I assure you, this collar will not be upon my throat for long. I refuse to be someone else's captive."

The man shook his head. "You my friend, no longer have a choice. That collar marks you a slave and that's what you will be known as for the rest of your days. Someday you too will be standing silently in a corner awaiting an owner's whim. We are nothing to them but beasts of burden and cheap entertainment. You are no longer alive to them, but merely an object to possess and use. When they get tired of you, they'll either sell you, or kill you. It is law of the collar that we must do as the Free and Owners bid of us."

Vegeta crossed his arms in sheer defiance and then shook his head. "I refuse to do anyone's bidding except my own. They will not be......."

The man cut off his words with a wave of the hand and then pointed to the office door of Tojar as it began to creak open slowly, letting little light out to the otherwise dim light of the building. Vegeta leaned against the far wall and then gazed down the isle, his expression a twist of disgust, rage, and wounded civic pride. He gave a cold glare to Tojar and scoffed a bit more. "Weak, pathetic fool." He muttered out loud enough to be heard by the man as he passed by.

Tojar stopped and looked at the newest slave to come in. "What was that comment beast?"

Vegeta only growled. "You heard me, I didn't stutter, or are you just hard of hearing?" His eyes followed every move Tojar made.

Tojar only grinned. "Been a while since I've had a real challenge. You, slave, will be taken first now to being broken. Like a horse, you'll be used and trained. However, do not think I am so easy to defeat. You will kneel to me in the end, and that I will promise you. As of now, no food and water, one week."

Vegeta gave him a look as if calling him every derogitory comment one could possibly come up with. "I order you to release me this moment. You will not keep me here seeing as how I'm the Prince of Saiyans. For this insulting treatment, I'll have your head on a platter."

There came a silence between them and they gazed at each other for a long time, one proud and fiercely strong, the other cold and unrelentingly skilled. Both weighed their chances against each other as if fighting an entire fight in just their stare. Neither one blinked, nor shifted gaze, both afraid to be the weaker of the two. Tojar could feel something was different about the Saiyan standing before him. Inwardly, he could tell, this slave was going to become great one day, and very well known. It was only once in a few thousand years that one came along that would change the lives of all. Tojar knew it by instinct that he would have more of a fight on his hands than any other slave.

Tojar looked into the coal black, fiery gaze of the unyeilding warrior before him. Yes, this slave would indeed be different than all the others that have come before. There was a depth in which he could feel himself sink into, hypnotically questioning what it was that made Vegeta different than the others. Was it because he was a Saiyan, and the Prince of Saiyans to be exact? No, it was deeper than titles and race. Was it the fact that unlike others, he had not yet succumb to the lash of a whip when he had first tasted the biting sting? He shook his head, no, it wasn't that at all, deeper still, it was buried in the blackened depths of this Dark Prince that was kept from all others.

Vegeta though gazed right back at him sizing his opponent and making calculations silently in his mind. From what he had just heard and what he had seen, Tojar had immense hidden strength, perhaps rivaling that of his own. He had to watch out for that. Nor did the man fear to gaze at him for long periods of time, unlike many who would have screamed for mercy by this length of time as cold as his glare was. The question was how did he break the slaves to doing another's wish? For now he would bite his tongue until he had studied his prey to the last reflexive flinch. He let his eyes narrow in sadistic silent rage upon seeing Tojar near his stall door with a light grin.

Vegeta backed up slightly, unsure what that grin meant, but he wouldn't be caught off guard by it either should it mean something dangerous or something should try to take him by surprise. Only then did he become aware again of the collar upon his own throat being pressed back against his throat from the chain's weight hanging down behind him. He then in the silence of his own mind whispered a vow. _I will never be a silent one who has given up all hope. As long as I live, I will keep fighting and they won't stop me from doing so._


	5. Training

Jronia

By SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

Chapter 4

Training

Vegeta leaned against the wall for what felt like to him about the billionth time that day marking the end of the week. He growled a bit as his stomach reminded him that he hadn't yet eaten since Tojar had locked him in this prison. He paced the cell quietly like a caged lion in the zoo. His coal eyes flickered with unsurpassed fury like flames consuming every thing in its path. There was nothing left unstudied as he again looked out at the bars. The man that had been six stalls down had been sold off for slaughter and he now faced the other slaves with vicious intent.

The others looked at him but only for a short time. They could see the strong, dominant will in the Saiyan and they knew Tojar. They knew he was going to be most intrigued with trying to break him to become a submissive servant to those who would have him. They would watch him with mixed emotion, but the majority thinking that he would soon break under the will of the Trainer. One of them shook his head and quietly muttered. "Give it up friend. In the end, Tojar always wins. Might as well make it easy on yourself and go submissive now."

Prince Vegeta snapped his head to the one that had spoken as if someone had just insulted him. "I refuse to bend to one's whims so easily. I am a warrior and a Warrior Prince at that. If Tojar wants a fight, then hell, let him come. I will not cower down like a weak fool and submit that easy. If you want to break to him without a fight then fine, but I'm not going down without one."

His eyes only seemed to smolder now with deep intensity as he gazed back to the office door awaiting for the daily rituals of feeding and watering the others. However he noted that a couple were still eating, they had been fed early. Vegeta's brow furrowed taking in the change of schedule then looked around quietly, glancing in the direction of another door. That door though slid sideways on the tracks and most importantly above it was labeled, "Arena". He had never seen those doors open to see what was inside, but he knew that was where he broke slaves, behind closed doors. No one knew what went on after Tojar had taken a slave in there, but when they came out, the slave was more submissive than upon entrance.

Finally, the office door creaked slowly open again as the light from the room beyond the heavy wooden door went out. All others stood quietly at the middle of their cells and they lowered their heads to a submissive tuck and their eyes lowered to the ground. In this way did each caged person show submissiveness to the Free that came to their midst. All but one that is, and that was the Saiyan Prince. Tojar looked at him and grinned. "A week without food or water and you still refuse to even show the slightest of a submissive temper. You are indeed going to be fun to break."

Vegeta only scoffed a bit. "I'd like to see you try damn bastard. I'm not going to be commanded like a damn mindless animal."

Tojar laughed reaching for a small controller and then grinned. "Ever wondered what that collar around your neck does to a disobedient slave who does not mind their manners?"

The Dark Prince only furrowed a brow. "Do you want to know how many worlds I myself have destroyed?"

Once again Tojar laughed, letting his lips linger in a cruel smile of interest. His fingers curled around the small device in his hand and then with a quick touch of a button, a tinge of electricity went through the Saiyan's collar, forcing the Prince's neck to involuntarily tense up. He held it there for a while grinning the entire time as he watched Vegeta try to yank the collar off by force but the collar didn't release its secured lock from around his throat.

Vegeta clawed viciously at the collar as his neck muscles tensed. He pulled on it, tugged as hard as he could upon it, but still no luck. It didn't hurt, but it let him know that he was indeed being shocked. He shook his head in defiance and then redoubled his efforts in a vain attempt to get it off. When the shock stopped, he panted lightly from the recent frenzy and then growled. He felt like attacking something, a bloodthirsty temper coming forth instead as he glared hatefully at the man before him.

Tojar took up a thick brown leathered leash off the stall door's hook and then grinned. "Time for your training to commence slave. It's time you learn your place here in Jronia. You'll be here for a long time to come."

At first Vegeta would have laughed at Tojar except for the fact that a powerful shock soon consumed his body, holding him painfully rigid. The Trainer looked at him as he turned up the intensity of the shock collar. Soon, Vegeta screamed out in agonizing pain, his body lifted off the ground and held, his arms held down and out his feet slightly spread, his head thrown back. It seemed like he was being burned from the inside out with a very cold flame and his throat, felt as if it were on fire.

Tojar released the button and then narrowed his eyes watching as the Prince fell to the ground, stunned beyond movement. He gripped up the muzzle, a training collar, two thick ropes, two straps with clips on either side of the thick leather, a belt, a set of shackles, and a pole whip. In that way he began to enter the stall and placed the shackles upon the Saiyan's wrists holding them firmly behind his back. Tojar then fastened the muzzle upon him, cinching it tight upon him.

Continuing on, he placed one rope upon Vegeta's right ankle and up through a ring on the training collar that had been placed above the black steel band. He tied another rope directly to the collar itself, and then he clipped the shortest strap from the bottom of the muzzle to the collar, the strap only being about three inches long. Then the longer went from the muzzle right at the top of the nose down to the fastened belt around the Saiyan's waist.

Vegeta was too stunned from the recent shock to move at first, feeling what was being put upon him as he felt his head forced to tuck, he gave a light growl. Finally when all was finished, Tojar picked up the pole whip just as the Warrior came to his senses. He growled, finding his movements restricted with such a severity to not allow him to fight without complications.

Tojar slid open the stall door and then pulled on the collar rope as he tried to get him to follow him out being led upon the rope like a leash. Vegeta set his feet but then he felt his right foot being lifted as the rope tightened around his ankle and pulled the collar tight upon the front of his throat choking him then the collar rope pulled forward, throwing his balance off enough to make him take a step forward to catch it before he fell.

Slowly and with much struggle, they headed for the Arena. The door slid open wide for them and Vegeta turned heel trying to make it impossible to force him inside this place, but it was no use. Without his ki strength he had been reduced drastically in power and it made it harder and in the end, Tojar pulled only harder forcing him to finally enter the dirt covered floor of the Arena and the doors closed behind them.


	6. Broken

**Jronia**

Written By: SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Just a note:** Weak Jronians are as strong as a Super Saiyan. The strong ones like Tojar are as strong as a Super Saiyan 4. Should make for an interesting story indeed. Continue to read on and hope this clarifies the strength of these people Vegeta's held captive under. And PLEASE, at the end of this chapter, do not assume he's out of character, this has all been planned out. Enjoy.

**Chapter 5**

**Broken**

Tojar gave a harsh yank upon the collar rope and his pale blue eyes flashed madly as he drew Vegeta into the round pen and locked the gate. He picked up a club and dropped his pole whip to the soft dirt under foot never once lowering his eyes from Vegeta. When he stood back up he looked at the Saiyan standing at the gate as if studying a way to get out and again picked up the whip. The Trainer cracked it down harshly upon the Prince's back, gripping his club all the harder. Even with him bound, Vegeta could still caused serious damage if he wasn't careful.

The Saiyan Prince wheeled around in rage as he felt the sting of the lash upon his flesh, biting madly into his thoughts as he turned on heel and then charged Tojar, his hands bound behind his back, he went in sideways and quickly wanting to get him off balance. However Tojar seemed quicker and just out of reach with his shoulder, Vegeta felt the hard blow of the steel club against his face causing the steel muzzle to cut into his face. He found himself upon the ground, holding his breath under the muzzle still fastened tightly upon him.

Tojar backed up a bit. "Okay Saiyan, you can break easy, or you could break hard, but you will break." He watched him struggle to his feet and even then was minorly surprised. However he had studied up on Saiyans before Vegeta's arrival, he knew how they gained their strength and he would have to be careful about how much he went against this slave. Tojar again readied his whip and club.

Vegeta got up with a struggle and shook his head a little, the blow was enough to daze him. He charged in time and time again, several times trying to trick this man holding him captive, only to be met with the same result of a club upon his face, whirling him to the ground in a crumpled mess with a harsh blow to the face or head. He was pulling out all the stops that he knew and it was getting him nowhere. He panted heavily, unable to breathe through his mouth as he stood back by the red bars of the round pen. His head had been held in a submissive tuck the entire time. The Saiyan's coal eyes glanced over sideways to the Trainer and only then noticed the small crowd of people watching.

The designated seating area had a few native Jronians seated in the bench like seats. The white wall in front of them served them as an armrest and a few mutterings could be heard from the crowds, possible bids. Two of them seemed highly interested in the new captive as Tojar picked up the two ropes and then dropped the club, cracking it at Vegeta's heels and then forced him to run around the pen.

Vegeta growled at the fact that these people were here to watch his defeat. He hated the very thought of even giving in and he decided he wasn't going to, however every attempt was met in a harsh counter attack. When he was ran, he kept an eye upon Tojar as he paced it lightly around the outer part of the arena, as if trying to find a retreat from the man with the whip. Then the Prince felt the collar tighten against his throat and his pace restricted more and more until he was forced to pick up his right foot. Trying to bring his foot down only caused it to get forced higher and the collar to choke him a little more as the collar rope was then pulled throwing him once more off balance and into a kneel.

Tojar noted his struggle and kept him running, paying no mind to the people watching. Forcing Vegeta to run again and again, time after time making the proud Saiyan kneel down in defeat after defeat. He could feel the Saiyan's weakening struggle and finally he pulled him to a stop once more. "Kneel slave." Tojar once more forced the tired Prince into a kneel upon the soft dirt, but this time, something flickered out in the coal black eyes. This last one had made Vegeta teachable for commands to be followed.

Vegeta closed his eyes and panted hard under the muzzle, his throat was dry and his body craved food for energy, both he had been starved of for the past week. Now he knelt there in silence as Tojar simply walked up to him and then rested a hand upon the sweaty bow of the back of his thick neck. To demonstrate his being basic broken, he reached around the front of the throat and held onto it. "You see gentlemen, any slave can be broken. Just a matter of time, patience, and determination."

The Prince felt the hand upon his throat, a place he most highly guarded and shivered lightly. He knew he had been defeated and it made him bitter inside, his coal eyes lowered down as the hand again was placed upon the back of his neck as if he were nothing more than a dog that had been told to sit and stay. Inwardly it angered him even more when Tojar spoke up to the observers. But then there were times a Saiyan had to do...what a Saiyan had to do, and this was one of those times.

He lunged to his feet unexpectedly with a head butt up to Tojar's jaw and then came around hard with back kick and to his gut making Tojar slam against the panel of the round pen and he growled, the fire in his coal black eyes only burned deeper and harsher. He jumped Tojar's desperate swing with the whip but as he charged Tojar, the Trainer jumped aside and then gripped up his club and brought it again harshly against the Saiyan's head. Then once again the cold fire of the shock slammed the body of Vegeta unmercifully as he went rigidly tense.

Quietly, Tojar watched the Saiyan as he tried to scream in agony and as blood was drawn around the wrists where the cuffs rested upon the white gloves. When it was over, Vegeta lay upon the ground unable to move as Tojar put his foot upon the Prince's neck, making it sink into Vegeta, who was the better in a fight like this. Slowly, Vegeta's eyes closed his sides heaving for breath which he couldn't seem to catch. His fight once more in vain, he quietly lay there, the foot upon the side of his neck made sure he couldn't rise up again.

The Saiyan Prince hated the taste of defeat but he had found out what went on in the Arena now. He knew why others broke so easily to this man, he was now more alert of what they were able to do and he would have to wait. Vegeta would play along with their whim until he became stronger. This was not the time to get in another fight and he knew it. With a wounded pride, he lay there until he was again hoisted to his feet and made to kneel. Once more he felt the hand upon his throat and the back of his bowed neck and he remained this time, giving the indications of being broken, but was he really?


	7. Cart Pulling

**Jronia**

Written by: SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

Chapter 6

Cart Work

The tall man led Vegeta out of the Arena in silence as they came to view of the other slaves. They looked closer to him and could glimpse a fire in them, still untouched by Tojar's training. What was it that he held deep inside that he didn't break to Tojar's whims like they had? They began to whisper in quiet tones as they left the building and stepped to the blinding light of the rising sun. More time had passed than the Prince had thought as he looked around in silence.

Thick air was heavy with dust and was not even touched with humidity and the roads were dry as desert sand. Heat rose in waves off the hot ground under his feet, the Free went about their business as usual, running errands to what looked like a small shop and then a larger building housing foods of all kinds and commodities. In front of this store stood a cart, where a slave was chained by the wrists to the steel shafts to keep them from being able to drop it.

Slowly they passed a tavern and came to another man. Tojar handed him Vegeta's leash and then some papers as well. Quietly, he watched the items passed between hands then the man got down off the cart and then took out a harness. He walked around the Saiyan, poking and prodding every now and then. "Foot." He blurted out in a deeper, more vile voice than Tojar's.

Vegeta picked his right foot up for the man but a scowl came to his face, his tail tightened firmly around his waist. The man then set his two massive hands upon the Saiyan's shoulders and leaned against him. The Warrior Prince looked back at him with fire in his coal eyes. It was plain to see he had not yet been fully broken as he gripped the man's hands and threw him over his shoulder and on to the ground before him. "I'm not a damn leaning post nor armrest. Keep your hands off of me."

The man shook his head and then stood back up. "Ah, a trouble slave I see. That can easily be fixed."

Prince Vegeta looked at the man in disgust when a couple more came from behind and gripped his arms, forcing him to stay steady. He growled and fought their grips, unable to gain much ground as they firmly held him as the man then muzzled him once more. _What is it about them and their muzzles. Feh, just wait, you think you have broken me? That wasn't even an appetizer._ Vegeta thought as the scowl deepened upon his brow. Soon they drug him over to a waiting cart and made him stand before it as his new Owner switched out the single pull shafts to the team pull shafts.

Once more the proud Saiyan gazed to the cart before him. It was a rather large box cart about the length of a horse cart but not as wide. It was made of strong wood and steel and rested only upon two large steel wheels. Up front on top, was a seat that spanned across the box frame with a foot rest built in. Another slave was tied to a post on the side when he finally gazed over. To top off Vegeta's observations, he noted several whip marks upon the other slave's back, and a harness upon him obviously what they used to make him pull. His brow did not come out of the heavy furrow, but the look in his eyes became meaner.

Before long Vegeta was startled from his thoughts when he felt a thick leather resting on his shoulders like a backpack's would rest and then a thicker strap fastened just below his lower chest, around his upper ribs. He was still held by the two men but he came up in a kick to his Owner's face, just narrowly missing him. He felt a sharp blow to his back shortly after, knocking the wind from him and the girth of this harness tightened around his ribs incredibly tight. It took a moment for him to regain his breath and by that time, they had already moved him to the cart and clipped the straps to the harness upon him and chained his wrists to the two shafts on either side of him.

The other slave was then brought to the cart and fastened in as well but the other gave him a look of warning. "You hinder my work or slow me up, I'll make sure you're the one that gets the beating." The other muttered to the muzzled Saiyan. Then came a sharp crack of the whip upon their backs and the Owner's voice rang out. "Move out!"

Vegeta felt the cart lurch forward from the other slave pulling beside him, and he set his feet only to gain another biting lash from the whip. He growled and tried to turn around his coal eyes flickered madly at this treatment. He wasn't a horse and he hated to be used as such as well, but the other lurched forward again, forcing the Prince to follow. Soon after things settled down once more but he was not used to this dry heat and dust. It suffocated him, unable to open his mouth, trying once or twice to slow up a bit to catch his breath, but the lurch of the cart beside him and another lash from the whip forced him to pull harder.

Gazing next to him, Vegeta narrowed his eyes. He gazed around this city as they jogged it in a quick jog. His mind finally settled on gaining his directions, locations, and the streets of what place was what. Finally, toward the journey home, they had a straight line to follow back to the Owner's home. When he got there he fell to his knee, hunger had doubled him over this time. The Saiyan's going down, only earned him another lash and another night of being starved. He looked to the other cart puller and then went back to the stall he was directed to and there curled up on the straw, watching the other eat and drink. It only drove his hunger deeper and more vicious.

It wasn't long after that Vegeta could hear the rattle of chains and footsteps coming down the isle to his stall. The man that looked in had a look of intent upon it. The two locked eyes and they didn't move from each other until the pain again from being wounded and starved made the Prince finally turn his head down in a wince. Blood was upon his face where the steel muzzle was cutting into his face. Cirrento grinned at him and then opened his stall door, walking in. "It's time."


	8. Bitter Realities

**Jronia**

Written by SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Vegeta: **Well the story is well underway. Some people though may get a bit weak hearted though in later chapters. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how you get me out of this.

**Author: **All in due time Vegeta, but to let others know, the ride only gets rougher. And what's this? Is this a new person about to enter? We both know it won't be Bulma, so lets keep in tune and we'll find out who this mystery person is.

**Vegeta:** Smirks his famous smirk and then looks ahead to the story Let the readers find out for themselves. We've got another chapter to plot out. He takes the Author aside and then moves to another room out of hearing and sight of the readers, there starting to work on the next Chapter.

**Chapter 7**

**Bitter Realities**

Cirrento walked in upon the Saiyan confidently, his hands gripped the leash had been clipped to Vegeta's collar once by Tojar. Silently the Prince backed away from him, unable to say anything with the muzzle clamped firmly in place upon him. Vegeta eyed the man who dared to near him in such a fashion as to degrade him further. His stare though was only met with a look of malicious intent upon his features.

Prince Vegeta looked to the leash upon his collar and growled as he was led out. His pride was being severely cut into as he set his feet and again tested this new Jronian. He leaned back against the back of the collar his head being held high, his eyes showing a deep anger locked within. There was only one thing showing when Cirrento looked back to him, and that was a fury in the coal eyes that burned deeper than any other he had ever come across. This fire didn't smolder, it raged and the owner was taken by a slight fear of this supposedly broken slave at the end of a leash.

Cirrento reached for the club and then held him up closer to the Saiyan he had purchased and gave one smack to the Prince's jaw that made Vegeta stagger back a couple of steps and turn away from the person at the other end. He shook his head and then unwillingly silent, he followed Cirrento out to the waiting cart and his brow furrowed once more in disgust. Cirrento soon had him fastened in to the cart and he finally gave a deep sigh. The Jronian master put a hand upon Vegeta's shoulder and then gripped the collar giving a light twist to it.

As Vegeta felt his air cut off by three-quarters, Cirrento looked to him and the dark brown eyes narrowed against the solid black. Finally in a low, yet threatening tone the master finally spoke in a harsh, baritone voice. "You act up slave, you'll be wishing you were back with Tojar and his whip. You're mine now and you're not going to get away with half the things you did there. You're going to pull this cart until I tell you to stop. You will pull at a jog at all times, no matter the distance, weather, or temperature."

Vegeta glared at him unable to protest under his muzzle. His stomach growled from lack of food and if he wasn't being held by the collar, he would have doubled from hunger pains. The Saiyan's hands were bound to the cart not allowing him to ease his pain either. This was quickly putting him in a very foul mood and his temper was about to burst. Still unable to open his mouth, he started to act up on his protest instead. Making the cart lurch forward and back, at one point making the cart rest on Cirrento's foot. However, the only thing it rewarded, was a lashing and a couple heavy blows with the club.

The Saiyan lowered his head and shook it a bit, trying to shake off the beating. His brow was furrowed deeply with anger, disgust, and frustration. There was nothing at the moment that he could do to get this man to leave him alone. The more he acted up, the more often he found Cirrento beside him only happy to give the Warrior Prince a beating. Finally in a hope to get the master away from him, he stood quietly. His breathing was a bit heavy when his owner finally released the grip from the collar and only then did Cirrento let him be.

As the man sat back up on the cart seat, he took up the whip and lashed it down with a loud crack upon Vegeta's back, rending the shirt open and drawing blood. The Prince looked back at him in a gaze of hateful disgust, the pain upon his back bit into his every thought. Unable to do anything though about the man behind him, he began to pull in the stillness of the night, every hour making him weaker through hunger. With the rise of the morning sun, it came to be nine days without food or water, and it was severely taking its toll upon him.

Cirrento watched the Saiyan's every move and the slightest of mis-steps was greeted only with a whiplash upon the back. Each crack drew blood and he forced Vegeta to keep at the jog in spite of the starvation and thirst of his new cart slave. A grin of cruel pleasure crossed his face as he watched the Prince of Saiyans knuckle down and work harder, though he was unknowing of the reason why. He then took out the whip again and laid it harshly upon the warrior's back ever harder. "Pick it up slave, I want a good run now."

Vegeta only growled his protest under the muzzle he wore. _Bastard, I'll kill you for this. Just wait, your time is coming and when I strike, the entire City will know of it._ His coal eyes flickered in angry rage as he moved to the faster pace of the run. His sides aching, his back hurting, and his breathing already heavy, he leaned in further to the harness and pulled straight out. Quietly he began to plot his next move against this Master of his. Far from even being broken, he found himself in another fight and this was one fight he would either win or die trying.

When they finally pulled back into the drive, the Saiyan turned and parked the cart, only to wait for Cirrento to release him of the weight and burden. If nothing else, he wanted sleep to maintain some of his energy, but he found himself denied just that. Instead of leading him to a stall, Cirrento took the leash and clipped it to the collar then tied it to a post, too high for the Prince to reach. He was left standing outside, harnessed to the cart and with his hands chained to the cart shafts, he had no way of getting it off of himself. The silent rage began to burn viciously in his black eyes as lightning ripped through the gray overhead reflecting in the coal depths.


	9. The City Life

**Jronia**

Written by: SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Author: ** Well here we are again Vegeta, back to the readers with another chapter complete. This story is going to be getting faster now and some time jumps will be involved. Don't think they want to hear about every single day of 23 years. This chapter is not the end though, there's more to do before Ghost comes to the picture and when he does, I think the people will be interested in this "Urban Legend". Though that is still a ways off yet. A lot has to happen before that comes around.

**Vegeta: **The story is picking up to a good swing. However, like a good story, its best to build up to it. Though you are right. Ghost is going to be a very interesting character in this story.

**Author: **Shall we let them read on then? They'll be eager to continue on in their story, plus we have yet another chapter to plot out and get written. Thank you Vegeta for being a good sport through this as well, not often one can write a good fic with the Prince of Saiyans.

**Vegeta: **As long as you don't make me all soft and pansy, I don't mind. Besides, many forget about the Saiyan's abilities to become stronger after every battle. The way this is going, I'll be gaining power at a good pace. Can't wait until they see my full glory come forth in this story, but on with the fic for now.

**Chapter 8**

**The City Life**

Cold fingers of ice curled around Vegeta's body as he slowly opened his coal eyes. He had fallen asleep standing, still tied to the cart and he shifted a bit feeling how heavy the weight of the cart had become. The Saiyan shifted his weight slightly feeling a throb in his feet. The muzzle was still locked upon him tightly, not allowing him to yawn easily, then his stomach rumbled and he knelt down finally, the hunger was far too great for him to ignore. The pain doubled him over his eyes closing in the agony of hunger. His hands clamped upon the iced over steel shafts of the cart, glad he was wearing his white gloves still. The white coverings provided a barrier between his skin and the shafts keeping them free of the poles.

Cirrento came out into the chilled winter morning and glared at Vegeta. "You have four people to deliver to. It will take you four hours tops to make them and then be back here until called for again."

The Prince nodded quietly, wishing for something to go on. He was only fed when they felt the want to feed him. And now that winter had come, it was more important than before. However, through the past four months, he found that he was only fed enough to keep him on his feet, but work burned off the energy before the day was through and the food wasn't pleasant either. It was called "sludge" looking fifty times worse than pig slop and tasted even worse. Rotten foods and other things were thrown into the mix, then left to ferment for a time before being given to slaves to eat. He had been on this diet now for the last four months and each time he choked down this sludge, he suffered stomach cramps for the next week.

Silently he began to move from his Master and picked up to a light jog, careful not to get too wreckless on the now ice covered grounds. He reminisced about how they fed him as he pulled. They would force a tube through the mesh of the muzzle and down into his throat. Then they would funnel the sludge through the tube and run it down toward his mouth where he couldn't refuse but to eat it. After a couple of months, it started to become an aquired taste, but still left him feeling ill afterwards. He looked up only to see the names of the passing store fronts.

White puffs of breath came from his breathing as he jogged it. The sweat and cold mixed, chilled him to the bone making him unwillingly shiver. Light crunching of the frosted ice under foot could be heard with the usual rattle of the cart he pulled behind him. Vegeta was getting to know this vast city and very well in such a short time. With hard work, he had gained a bit of independance from being constantly bombarded by his owner and he had in a way come to look forward to pulling the cart. He made it to his first stop as he eased the cart to a stop behind a large building that looked like it could be a department store, and he lowered the shafts to the ground.

Irritated by the black band around his throat, Vegeta reached up and tugged it down lower to the base of his thick neck. It was cold to the skin and touch. Quietly he made his way to the door and gave it a rapping his eyes narrowing in the thought of receiving the usual treatment. A kind word here was only as gentle as a whip's lash or a club's blow upon his body. His eyes lowered down in wait, his head tucking a little, knowing if he made one misstep, his Master would beat him for it. Slowly the door creaked open and his breath caught in his throat unable to say anything, he hoped they would realize the fact that he was a cart pulling slave in this sprawling metropolis.

Thick leather hide boots was what he noted first with the warmer clothing the Free preferred. Silently he shivered and then the man's deep voice came harshly to his ears. "Damn slave, you're supposed to bow to me, now do it stupid beast."

Quietly under a glaring scowl he gave a bow as demanded and then rose up in time for a hard smack upside his temple with a steel bar, sending him down the stairs and onto the ground. Shifting his weight, Vegeta slowly stood up again wishing he could talk now more than ever to this man. It was the Saiyan's hide out here in the freezing temperatures working to get the Free what they desired upon whim. Every passing day, his anger grew quietly, balled up inside waiting for the right moment to release his pent up rage.

Forced to bite his tongue, Vegeta went to the cart and then pulled out several items taking them to the desired place in the building, setting it in one corner of a large warehouse section. Boxes were strewn here and there, wooden pallets stacked up in a heaping pile instead of being stacked. However he noted the temperature was a lot warmer in here. Setting down his load of boxes he again went out to retrieve more then reentered the grey brick building. Once more the man came to him and cracked the whip down on his back, causing Vegeta to jump at the sudden sting of the lash.

A strong grip twisted the collar upon the Prince's throat choking him, forcing him to kneel down. The baritone voice again bit harshly into his thoughts and rang in his ears. "Lazy beast, get it over with and get out. I don't want your carcass to linger in my building. Now put a step on it monkey."

Vegeta clenched his jaw against the words moving quicker more out of hatred than from the order. Soon enough he was back out in the biting cold of the winter afternoon. He picked up the cart shafts and moved on to his next stop, then the next, the Free only tolerating him long enough for him to get his work done and out of there, no longer. By the time he was headed to his final stop, his body was numbed from the cold wind that swirled around the Saiyan in a blanket of ice. His tail that was kept snug upon his waist was starting to freeze as well. The brown fur showed of the ice coating it and making it turn white hewn.

Finally at the last stop he gazed to the dim light of the sun through the overcast skies. He was an hour ahead of time if he was correct. He shivered again as the door opened again, his body too cold to respond quickly as he gathered the items and gave the warmly dressed woman a bow, noting her as a Free. Taking care to not drop anything, bit his tongue hard as he kept his eyes down firmly. The other stops had only beaten him, cursing him and shoving him around. The ice on the muzzle formed bits of small icicles and his tattered navy blue shirt didn't really serve any purpose to keep him warm. In short, he was miserable and longing for the warmth of a fire.

Sizing up the shivering slave on her doorstep, she was one of few that actually cared for the slaves in this chaotic place. Kienna shook her head. "Come inside and rest for a little." She turned and then went for a blanket, a thick woolen cape, and a bowl of warm broth. The woman directed to where he was to place his burdens and then he sat back in a corner then she placed the blanket in a corner and then placed the cover over his shoulders.

Sitting upon the blanket after she motioned him over, he sat down and then gazed to the roaring blaze in the fireplace. His coal eyes reflected the image as it danced viciously in the black depths as if it were speaking right to his own soul that raged in silence. Kienna reached over slowly and unclasped the muzzle from his head and removed it. She turned and put it into hot water in the sink letting the steel warm up once more. She figured if he had to wear it upon whim of his Master, he could at least have it warmed occasionally.

Vegeta felt the muzzle part from his face and then he lightly chomped his teeth as if eating but he seemed to relax more as he again as he received this tender care. How long had it been since he had felt a gentle hand? How long had it been since he had known a kind word or a decent bite of food? Vegeta closed his eyes just glad to have the muzzle off as his mind wandered in to his past.


	10. Darkfire

**Jronia**

Written by: SaiyanWarriorVegeta

**Vegeta: **Well, chapter nine is up and Kienna has come to the picture. Any idea what role she'll play in this story?

**Author: **"Grins a crooked grin." Of course I know what role she will play. Don't worry Vegeta, I have other plans in mind for Kienna and its not a relationship of the serious kind.

**Vegeta: **Good, lets get on with the story....

**Author: **"Clamps a hand over his mouth and looks at him in a stern way, but with a grin." Don't be so impatient. For those of you reviewing the story, thank you. I would like to see more readers do that if possible. Any questions as well of the story please feel free to ask them as well when you review and they'll be answered accordingly to the chapter they're posted for.

**Vegeta: **"Takes the hand from his mouth and then gives a light twist bringing the left thumb to the forearm." Do that again and I'll break your wrist.

**Author: **"Laughs a bit, it didn't hurt" Double-jointed Vegeta, but you're right. Lets get on with the story.

**WARNING:: CONTENTS OF THIS STORY WILL GET VERY CRUEL. REMEMBER, THIS IS A _FICTIONAL_ STORY AND SHOULD _NEVER_ BE REPEATED IN REAL LIFE. ABUSE IS AGAINST THE LAW IN EVERY STATE SO IS SLAVERY. DO _NOT_ ATTEMPT ANY PART OF THIS STORY UPON ANY PERSON, EVEN YOURSELF. IF YOU DO, I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE, AND YOU SHOULD SEEK HELP _IMMEDIATELY_.**

**Chapter 9**

**Darkfire**

Vegeta had curled up on the blankets by the warm fire getting back feeling to his body. The cover over his shoulders was thick and woolen, trapping heat inside his body as he sipped on the broth. There was little he had to do now except return to his Owner. How much time had passed? He played that out in his mind as he stared at the fire cradling the chicken broth gently in his gloved hands. The Prince looked around and by the color of the darkening sky, he inwardly flinched, it was way past time he was supposed to be back. His beating would undoubtedly be very severe and he stood up about ready to walk out the door when a knock came upon the heavy wood barrier to the outside.

The Dark Prince froze in his tracks watching as Kienna opened the door and then let Cirrento inside. Vegeta kept his eyes upraised, his scowl furrowing. Cirrento looked at the Saiyan before him. "Where have you been, damn slave? You missed several orders today and for that, you will be punished."

Coldly, the Saiyan looked back at him. "I do not do your bidding. I'm not a damn slave. I'm a Prince and if you don't show me respect then I'll never do a thing for you again."

Fingering the device in his pocket, he pressed the button to the shock collar making the slave before him scream in sharp, burning agony. After two minutes, he released the button and glowered. "What was that again slave?"

Collapsing to the floor breathless, he panted against the humming still lingering in his body. The shock had seemed like an eternity of agony to him. "I'm not.....a slave....I am a Prince...the Prince of Saiyans...I am free..."

Cirrento pressed the button again sending Vegeta once more off the floor for another minute and when he released it he pressed his foot to Vegeta's ribs and pressed down upon them heavily. "Want to repeat that? I didn't quite hear you."

Kienna stepped in between them and glared at Cirrento. "You will not do that again in my presence, do you understand me?"

Cirrento looked at Kienna and grinned. "I'd like to take you out sometime for a couple drinks. When would you want me...."

Before Cirrento knew what had hit him, Kienna had gripped up a broom handle and smacked it very hard across Cirrento's face. The man staggered back in shock at the strength this woman had in her and then looked to Vegeta still laying upon the floor, nearly unconscious. "Get up damn lazy beast. You have to help pull my cart home."

Slowly the warrior pressed his hands to the ground and fought to rise. The collar on his neck reminding him of the pain they could inflict with just a touch of a finger, and he hated it. He rose to his hands and knees surprising both Kienna and Cirrento. The level of shock used upon the Prince was enough to kill most, and yet, he still rose up. Kienna looked at Cirrento as she watched Vegeta collapse once more to the floor. "Stay down." She ordered out to Vegeta.

Vegeta growled and tried to rise up again, only to receive the blow to the back of his neck, stunning him. Cirrento put away the steel pole and then looked at his slave. "You heard Kienna. Do as you're told slave."

Kienna twisted the bar from the Saiyan's Master and thwacked it viciously hard upon his body. "You will NOT treat him like that here. You touch him like that one more time, or shock him again, I'll have him confiscated from you. What is it with you damn Owners and beating a slave?! They have it hard enough in this city without you all beating on them for no frickin' reason at all. Get out of my home and leave the slave here. I will return him when I give him a thorough check up. Now, leave."

Cirrento took a step back and then nodded, shooting a cold glare at Vegeta. "You will suffer for your defiance slave." He muttered and then walked out. The lash of the whip could be heard upon another slave's back and the cart driving off.

Vegeta lay upon the ground stunned and groggy, the pain in him was intense. He barely heard anything going on around him and shivered unwillingly when he felt a hand rest upon his shoulder. His eyes closed lightly as he coughed. Nearly choking, he instead tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry, his tongue was sore, and his throat ached. Pain shot through him ruthlessly as he tried to regain his bearings.

Kienna quietly looked to the neck of the slave before her and pulled the collar gently up, part of the metal pressing lightly to the throat of Vegeta. She noted the burn marks that were starting to form around his neck where the collar had rested when he was shocked. Raising up, she grabbed her medical bag and then began to tenderly look after his wounds. "Poor slave, this should be out right banned from use. What is your name?"

Vegeta nearly took a double-take of her when his name was asked. He lay there silently not answering, just letting her tend to his wounds. Kienna shook her head. "Well if you won't tell me one, then I'll give you one. Until you tell me a name otherwise, I'll call you Darkfire. Dark coming from the blackness of your eyes and hair with your dark blue clothing. Fire coming from the fiery temper you shown and the flame that flickers in your eyes still so lively. So all in all, I'll call you Darkfire."

Giving a light sigh he just laid his head back down, closing his eyes. Darkfire. At least it was a decent name she had come up with instead of some insult like Lucky. He could live with the name she had given him for now he thought and he waited. He felt her put a salve upon his neck and then gently wrap it where he had been burnt. The name lingered upon his mind for now while he lay there. He already knew how most of them would work. They would stick with calling him any name they wanted to give him, not really caring what his name was.

Kienna was a woman that stood about 5 feet 8 inches tall and had blonde hair tied up in a ponytail that came down to the middle of her back when up. Her emerald green eyes were about like that of a Super Saiyan's color but darker green. Her hands were gentle and very soothing as she remained knelt by the Saiyan before her running her slender fingers through his thick black hair. She then moved her hand down and rubbed Vegeta's forehead with a feather light touch. "There we go, just relax Darkfire, let me give you at least a bit of a check-up."

Vegeta felt her hand across his forehead and quietly he let his eyes half close. The touch itself was gentle and soothing, quiet and reassuring. Being Saiyan, he hated the louder tone of the others and the sharpness woke his want to fight more and more. She however was slow and fluent, making him react a bit calmer around her. He learned a long time ago how to adapt to situations. He soon felt her hand run gently over his neck and then upon his shoulders and chest. She removed the over from his shoulders and then continued on to his back, running down his spine towards his tightly wrapped tail.

The Jronian woman grinned as she continued her examination. "You see Darkfire, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a slave doctor, known as a vet in this city."

Her words alone sounded soft, but he could feel himself sinking deeper into his fight when she mentioned what a slave doctor was called. _A vet, just great. I've gone from being treated like a person to being a damn animal to them. Even she thinks of me as such._ Vegeta closed his eyes as he felt her hands lower across his hips and to his family jewels. Only then did he snap awake and whirl to a position of pure shock that she would grab such a personal place. He tried to stand but there wasn't any strength for him to draw upon, remaining instead upon fours.

Kienna reached to her bag and then pulled out what looked like a bizzare set of straps that were padded and she slipped them upon his head. He tried to take off the soft padded muzzle, when a couple ropes were clipped to it and pulled upon, forcing him towards a table. Finally finding his feet, the Saiyan warrior tried harder to get it off, but her pulling on the muzzle made it impossible to unlatch. Quietly he watched her as she motioned him up on it, fastening down his hands and ankles in a crawling position. Pulling harder against these new restraints, he found he couldn't get out of them. Vegeta's head quickly jerked upward again against the muzzle as she gripped his manhood again.

Coal eyes tried to follow her as she then tugged a bit and such, then moved on leaving him humiliated. She ran her hands down his legs next and then removed his white boots, examining his feet before putting them back upon him. Moving up more she pressed in on his ribs and then quietly he moved to the waist. When she was finished, she came back to his front and started filling out more papers. Medical charts as he noted even with her tipping the board slightly toward herself. So that was what she was up to, a thorough check-up. He shook his head slightly knowing he couldn't talk with the muzzle upon him.

Kienna finally looked to her and ran a hand again through his hair once more and it felt like cat fur, soft and thick. "There now that wasn't so terrible was it? You haven't been fully broken Darkfire, and I hope they never do."

Vegeta looked to her quietly, his being called Darkfire was odd. Never did he want to change his name, and yet these people did for him, giving him another by which he would be known as for a while. He flexed his jaws in the muzzle and then quietly he realized the padding gave way a little to allow eating and drinking, but talking was still cut out. She ran a hand up along the muzzle and then did she show how pleased she was. "All in all Darkfire, you'd be a good show slave. Built very nicely, well proportioned. You'd just need to work on being handled and following commands. I'll tell Cirrento about that as well, he was always looking for a good quality show slave. His cart puller was one, until things happened to him and he went down."

So that was why the other was so well liked by his Master, the fact that the slave had been used in show made the value increase and the slave to aquire a better liking. The cost though was his wild spirit, or would it be? His Master was in charge here he knew and he hated every bit of it. His dark eyes lowered down and his head lightly rested a bit lower as well as he felt Kienna's hand upon the back of his neck. "Its okay boy, I can tell you're fairly new to slavery and it is harsh out there. Funny though how I can open up better to a slave than I can to another Free or Owner. Just seems like you slaves are better listeners and I know you aren't stupid. In fact, I like to think of a slave as highly intelligent, just wish the others could see it the way they used to before Syn came."

For the next couple hours, she talked with him still tied there, the muzzle not allowing him to talk back. He just stayed quietly, not having choice to move anyway as she continued with the name Darkfire for him. Then finally she took up a leash and a set of shackles and then bound Vegeta's hands behind his back, and clipped a longer leash to his collar. Placing the cover back upon his shoulders, she fastened it and then untied him the rest of the way, taking him down off the table and gave him another bowl of broth which he ate down like yesterday's lunch. When he was finished and had set the bowl down, she led him outside to the frigid winds of winter once more and then took off the padded muzzle. There she clipped the guylines to the harness and chained his hands to the cart shafts once more. Then she put a piece of paper in the back of his collar and tied the leash to the post before she went back insided for a moment.

When she came out, she held the steel meshed muzzle once more as she again replaced it upon his head. The tightness of it made his head spin with a headache and she finally unclipped the leash. "Now return to your Master at once, Darkfire. Move out."

He pulled out into the blinding white snow of winter and picked up to a light jog, once more being careful on the ice underfoot. Vegeta was just glad to be away from them as a few Free decided to try and cross in front of him. He stopped and waited in silence as they talked and then one spotted him and walked up to him. They checked out the harnessing and the muzzle as he stood there and waited for them to pass on.


	11. Silent Rage

**Jronia**

Written by SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Author: **Well back with yet another chapter. I know I jumped it in the story, but in the four months, Vegeta had been out delivering goods but is very closely watched. He has a set schedule that he must abide by. With being under such strict command, he is able to pull the cart without being bound to it.

**Vegeta: **Strict command, feh......

**Author: **Vegeta, you don't want to spoil it so, let's let them read and we'll work on yet another chapter. This is going to be one hell of a long story, but Kakarrot and the others may make an appearance, speaking of which, another surprise character is going to be coming in within the next few chapters. Drags Vegeta away now to go plot another chapter

**Chapter 10**

**Silent Rage**

"Well slave? Explain yourself, no I don't want to hear it. The note describes it well." Cirrento circled the slave before him like a piece of meat to be slaughtered. "I could shock you but you don't seem to learn from that. Same with the normal beatings. Using you for shows, that could be a possibility, but not right in the near future."

Vegeta only stood there listening, his eyes set straight ahead and the steel muzzle upon him had been tightened. It was piercing his thoughts but his eyes showed the rage he was feeling. The Saiyan waited in patient silence to find his foe's weakness, the tenseness of his Owner only showed the fear Cirrento had of him. Briefly under the steel straps, he smirked.

Cirrento looked at him and then quietly, he began to feel the warrior's sides down to the hips and that alerted Vegeta. His brow furrowed and his scowl returned to his face as he lifted his left foot unnoticed by the Master behind him and gave a sharp kick backward. Usually he didn't make such a low blow, and he'd get punished for it, but right now he relished in the pain his Master was feeling. Cirrento was doubled over behind him groaning in pain as Vegeta then took off out the door. He kept going too, not stopping for anyone or anything until a rope cinched around his foot and yanked him off his feet. When he looked back, the person who had tripped him up surprised him. It was Kienna, holding the rope.

Kienna looked at him. "Darkfire, you know you aren't supposed to be running rampant here. Besides, there's more protection against them at my place. That check-up was supposed to have been done when you first arrived, but don't worry about that now. Come on, let's get you warmed up."

The Dark Prince looked to her as she removed the rope from his feet and then he gave a bitter glare. He growled under the muzzle at the one who had humiliated him. He felt a leash clip to his collar and his hands bound behind his back then a tug to make him follow. Catching side glimpses he noted a familiar slave, the one that had talked with him in the Training Stables. He was finally able to get a look at the starved being before him and it sickened him. He soon found himself entering Kienna's office once more and he stood to the side in forced silence.

Kienna looked over and replaced the steel muzzle with the soft padded which he would better tolerate though still with hatred. She turned to him and then looked him in the eyes. "Look, you can hate me as much as you want, but without me, you'll be in for slaughter in a year tops. Tojar didn't break you as thoroughly as he had the others and that could be dangerous for you. Just remember, I'm a slave doctor, I only have a couple things to do and that's it. Those are checking weight and your wounds."

Vegeta eyed her suspiciously but he watched as she pulled out her chart again and a scale. "If you would step up, that would be good." Kienna said in a very medical way, detached and almost monotonous.

The Saiyan Prince didn't see why but he just stepped on it a touch of curiosity striking him as well. The weight read 145 pounds and he smirked. Then Kienna removed the muzzle from him and took a step back. "Will you allow me to tend your wounds at least?"

Rubbing his face to try and get rid of the feel, he nodded and then she neared him and removed the blue shirt over his head and began unwrapping his bandages from the lash wounds he had. They were beginning to heal nicely, though the deeper ones would leave scars. She looked at him then began to tend to them. "I don't know why you didn't break already under these lashes, they've ripped muscle. Well, Darkfire, you think you explain why you were out and about like that?"

Vegeta laughed a little. "I kicked Cirrento in the balls and ran, simple as that. Bastard should be grateful I didn't kill him. Maybe I'll go back and do just that in fact."

Kienna gripped his collar and held it. "No, Darkfire. Don't do that please. You said you were a Prince? Well I'm the Princess of Jronia. Those are my people and they weren't always like this. A shadow dragon caused all of this, one by the name of Syn. He's only turned the people, but I was away when he came."

The Saiyan Prince looked at her. "Its not my problem. I'm only on a path to escape, not solve a damn problem that I have no interest in. You're a Princess, try making him leave, rally your people against him."

The slave doctor shook her head. "We already tried. Its not possible anymore, they are his servants now. It became your problem the moment you were captured and brought here. Ever think along the lines that maybe you were captured for a reason? Maybe there's something larger here that only you can defeat. Darkfire, I wouldn't be telling you this if we had other options, but you are our last hope."

Vegeta looked to Kienna coldly as his hands were unbound. "I know why I was brought here. I wear the damn thing around my neck, and it reminds me every single day. This damn collar makes me a frickin' slave here in your city. You think I want to help a race that put that around my throat and treats me like an animal to command? Hell no, fight your own damn fights."

The woman shook her head and then turned and gripped her supplies. "Then maybe you are just like the others. I thought you were different Darkfire, but you have let me down."

Now the warrior Prince raged. "I let you down? What about me? I've brought your things to you upon whim through the winter when it was so cold outside the people had to dress warmly just to open the door and what was I wearing? A damn loose blue sleeveless shirt and froze my arse off just trying to fill orders for you damn people. So tell me again who let who down."

Kienna looked at him quietly, knowing Vegeta was right. Vegeta coldly backed up a bit. "What's more, you don't like hearing your damn slaves talk, so you had me muzzled. I'm a person too and I have my own Pride, which I have tolerated being cut down and humiliated thinking that if I knuckled down and worked, I would be seen as one of you, but you people only worked me more."

Vegeta turned with a deep scowl upon his face as Kienna whispered an apology. He stopped in his tracks, the only time he heard one of those was right before something harsh happened to him. Staying true to it, he found himself being shocked by his collar once more as he let out a scream. When she took her finger off she watched him fall to the floor. Kienna neared him then placed him inside a kennel cage in the corner. It looked like a dog pound kennel with chain link fencing surrounding the bars and she locked him in it.

Kienna looked at him with hurt in her eyes. "I ask you one time for help and you turn me down. I can't allow you to escape, not when so much depends on someone strong. I thought you would be him, but I was wrong. Maybe there is no hope left of going against this Shadow Dragon. Maybe I was wrong to put my hopes in a mere slave and maybe I should just give in to the darkness around me and become as uncaring as them."

The Saiyan scowled at being in a cage. "Well, I don't want to be here, and you're on a good roll to doing just that. Just leave me the hell alone and maybe we'd both be happier, Princess." He spat out the word like a venomous poison.

The Dark Prince rubbed at his throat trying to ease the pain from being shocked again as he gazed to the wall. His coal eyes danced in the silent fury of his imprisonment and the treatment he was receiving. He growled a little and his dark gaze watched Kienna go back to work and she began to fill out paperwork upon him. He sat down in a corner and leaned against the wall, knowing he could be in here for a while to come.


	12. In the Shadows

**Jronia**

Written by: SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Vegeta:** So who is the mystery guest going to be?

**Author: **Not now Vegeta, don't want to spoil it, and besides, you already know. Talk of a twist in the storyline though. There's a good chance that these readers love to be kept in suspense though while we work on the story.

**Vegeta: **This is going to be a long story, though very well thought out from what some reviewers are saying. Just can't believe you have me as a damn slave in here.

**Author: **You should know be by now Vegeta, nothing happens without reason. So to the readers, please sit down and have another chapter on us.

**Chapter 11**

**In the Shadows**

How much time had passed, he thought as he gazed out the window from his cage. Surely Cirrento would be wanting him back for the defiance he had shown wouldn't he? The Saiyan quietly sat back against the bars of his cage and pondered the depths of his mind, the deep untouched areas yet to be fazed by anything this place had. A challenge had been presented here with the mentioning of Syn and his brow furrowed all the more. If Syn had the ability to turn people for the evil, he would obviously have enough power in him to destroy this planet. As a smirk crossed his face, he looked up in time to see something he had not expected.

The door opened and a man came forth again. This man Vegeta knew and knew well, Tojar. He backed a bit and his coal eyes darkened with hatred and anger. Tojar looked at Kienna and nodded to her. "You have possession of a Saiyan in here? Cirrento wanted him sold to the next bidder if one should take interest in him. Also we have three more Saiyans."

Vegeta quirked a brow in silence, his coal eyes taking up immediate interest as to who these Saiyans could be. He thought he had been the last when his world was destroyed. In all his travels both on this planet and off, he had never crossed paths with another Saiyan. Three others were led in by a leash, their eyes lowered and dull. They had many scars that suggested they had fought hard to keep from being tamed and time had taken its cruel turn on them, ultimately breaking them in the end. It was a fate Vegeta would not want to succumb to in this place.

One of them looked over and nudged the other two, then the three of them knelt to him in silent respect to their Prince. Tojar looked back and then noticed Vegeta in the cage, his eyes still burning with hatred for what he was doing. Tojar looked to the three that knelt to their Prince and raised a brow. "So you have some influence with these Saiyans then don't you slave?"

The Dark Prince scowled. "I am their Prince and your actions will not go unnoticed Tojar. You have just pissed off perhaps a person who can rival this, Syn, in power and strength. This is not a battle anymore between you and me. This is war, between slave and Free, only the winner will be the only one standing when its done."

Even caged, the Saiyan Prince did not show sign of giving in. Tojar stopped talking when Vegeta had mentioned the name of the Shadow Dragon. He just foundered for a bit and then took out a muzzle and walked over to him. He reached through an opening in the back and then gripped the Saiyan's jaw and placed the contraption upon him and tightened it, effectively silencing the Warrior Prince.

Vegeta fought the muzzle trying to take it off of him again. He shook his head a bit then tried to get his fingers under it but it was no use. He looked to the other three and his scowl furrowed even deeper. His coal eyes showed a fire to them and Kienna looked at him then to the other three. She wondered if he really knew these other three and then looked to Tojar. "I wonder if we could use anything they converse about to study them a bit further. They do seem to have an hierarchy much like us. What do you say we remove Darkfire's muzzle and let them talk?"

Tojar looked at Kienna and shook his head. "You think that would be wise? I mean, if they talk revolting, these slaves could cause a lot of trouble."

Kienna rolled her eyes. "What are they going to do? Take us out and fire off a ki blast? Their abilities have been subdued, they can't use their energy to harm us and if they tried they wear shock collars. What harm could they do that we couldn't control? I say let them talk."

The Trainer looked at Vegeta and then gave a wary eye to him. "You try anything you damn monkey and I swear, I'll work you harder than you've ever been worked before in your life."

In silence, the Prince looked at Tojar and let his hatred be known plainly at the degradation he was receiving. He held still while the muzzle though was removed once more and then he quickly turned and pinned the hand to the bars. Tojar yanked at it trying to get his hand away from the Saiyan Warrior locked in the cage. It was only a reminder to the Trainer just how lethal this Saiyan still was. He knew that Vegeta would not have any remorse about killing him should he ever be free long enough to do just that. It shown plainly in the dark depths of the black eyes staring back at him in endless penetration.

Finally, Vegeta let him go and then scowled. This was still a matter of pride, dignity, and honor. He couldn't give them up, nor would he let them go without fight. There was little he could do and if he had held too long he knew he would receive the worst of it and he couldn't afford another shock. The Prince was still too weak from the last punishment he had received and the collar about his throat was only a reminder of that to him. He hated it, how he hated it with a passionate vengeance. However, it was not without its rewards as he grew stronger with each time he was subjected to such treatment.

The other three Saiyans were chained to secure places in the room and then Tojar and Kienna moved off to another room which made Vegeta wonder. All the same he looked to the other three Saiyans before him and his coal eyes went curious. "You three are Saiyans, I can tell. What are your original names?"

One looked up and a scar ran down the left side of his face, his hair spiked out three on one side and five on the other, but he looked up at Vegeta. "I am Burdock. These two are Tora and Fasha, my Prince."

Vegeta nodded quietly. "Any idea how many more of us survived the planet's destruction?"

Burdock again nodded. "Yes Sire, there are several others."

Vegeta looked down quietly then back up. "Are they all slaves?"

Tora quietly spoke up. "Yes Prince Vegeta, and one of them is one you wouldn't expect."

This caught the Saiyan Prince's attention and he looked at Tora. "Who is it?"

Fasha looked to the three of them and her voice was reedy and thin, raspy from recent torments but she was eager to answer the question all the same. "Your father, King Vegeta."

Shock took him over as he went silent. "You mean...?" He paused and choked back a sudden surge of vile and excitement. "How is he doing? Where is he?"

Burdock looked back at Vegeta. "Forget it my Prince, he's been changed. He's far too changed to bring back. He's not the person you knew back on Planet Vegeta. Best to forget that it was ever mentioned about him. He's turned mean, like one of them. Leave him buried in the past with the other shadows that have come and gone in our lives, he is no longer Saiyan at heart."

Vegeta looked at him. "He's my father, changed or not. My father would rather die than to be changed by one of these bastards. He's a true warrior and I refuse to believe otherwise until I see it for myself."

Fasha shook her head. "Syn turned him evil. He would recognize you, but he wouldn't care about you in the least. He has become one of them and because of that, he is due to be set free soon. You are now our leader and you must stand up for the Saiyan race now more than ever, before we all become crushed by the overwhelming torments of this place. We need you Prince Vegeta, we all do and not just Saiyans. The entire slave population needs a leader, one they can look to for strength and pride when things seem so dark and hopeless."

Vegeta looked to Fasha and then watched as she took a knee as he neared the bars. This female was one of his own kind, and now they had to stick together more then before. This was going to be the battle for their lives and of their lives. With Fasha's plea, the burden to stand up against the Free of Jronia settled upon his shoulders, though it could take much longer than expected. He clenched his fist around a bar and then his eyes grew cold and determined, the way a warrior would just before they accepted a dangerous mission. This fight was now his to shoulder and he looked the three of them in the eye. "Rest easy, I take up the fight no matter the cost to myself. I will free the slaves of this City, or die trying."

He knew as he said this that he was taking on a heavy burden for just one person, but he only shook his head. He looked to them. "There is one thing I must become before I can fully take on this fight."

The other three looked at him in grim question and waited to hear the answer as Vegeta made eye contact with them. Then he spoke up. "I must become a Super Saiyan."

Tora and Burdock were taken by surprise. Tora looked at Fasha who had by now closed her eyes in sheer exhaustion. "Sire, you mean...you mean to become...the Legendary Super Saiyan? Is that even possible?"

Little did they know that something else was also listening to their conversation. This one slipped back out through the shadows and a grin twisted across the face as he heard about their plans. "Oh yes, you will do just fine." He smirked and then disappeared before anyone knew he was there.


	13. High Stakes

**Jronia**

Written By: SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Chapter 12**

**High Stakes**

Tora, Bardock, and Fasha looked at each other with the revelations of such shocking news. They had nearly forgotten about the Golden Warrior from their homeworld but when it was mentioned they fell silent and waited for further information. Tora though shivered slightly from the cold drafts in the room and Bardock was trying hard to conceal the fact that he was starving. Vegeta on the other hand seemed locked in deep thought as if he could actually see the next level waiting for him to come. It was now more urgent than not to attain this level.

The wind howled outside in a freezing stampede through the streets and quietly he lifted his black eyes to the sight of the snow falling in a blizzard. In the silence that surrounded them, each knew what this meant for the Warrior Prince. Each of them grieved and rejoiced in the silence of their mind. The stakes were high and could ultimately prove lethal if it wasn't played just right.

In his own mind however, Vegeta played out the many things he would have to go through to achieve such a status if he were not allowed to train. Then an idea sparked and a smirk came to his face. Instead of fighting to not pull the carts he was forced to, he would instead turn it around and ask for more should the load become too light. The owners would have to stay off him then and he would get the strength training as needed. Ideas started to fire in upon each other and soon a rigement of training was soon set up. One problem remained though and only one, and that would be food.

He would have to train with endurance before he did strength training first and that could take up a lot of time depending on who he was sold to. He looked at the three of them and then gave a smirk. "I'll ask for more work in the extreme weather to build up my endurance. Once that is built, I can work on strength. For now though, I'll have to play the obedient slave and tolerate only what I must."

Bardock looked up at Vegeta. "Have you lost your mind Vegeta! They'll kill you if you do that!"

Vegeta looked to him quietly and his coal eyes showed an unflinching and very steady gaze. "Not all at once, just little by little. Its time I put some more effort into my work and when that is done, I should have higher capabilities."

Fasha shook her head. "My Prince, you would be no good if you are just worked to death instead of fighting against them. Once you show them what type of work you're capable of, they'll want it all the time."

Slowly the Dark Prince nodded. "I don't expect any of you to truly understand my intnentions right now, but in time they will pay off and then it would only be a matter of time before the next level. If I don't start on this, then I'll be this strong and a slave for the rest of my life and I don't want that. There is no other way right now. We run, we're shocked and drug back only to be beaten and what happens to a Saiyan that is beaten nearly to death and brought back to health?"

Tora looked at him and so did the other two, finally catching on to what was going on when Kienna stepped into the room with Tojar on her heels. Once more the pale blue met the coal black and the two Free looked to Vegeta with a look of curiosity. Vegeta knew they had overheard and knew themselves but neither said a word. Finally Tojar broke the silence quietly as he gazed to the other Saiyans. "You really are the Prince of Saiyans aren't you Vegeta."

Vegeta furrowed his brow lightly and scoffed. "What you just now figure that out after how many times I've personally told you? What about it? What the hell do you two want?"

Kienna knelt down by the cage and then looked to the other three then to Tojar then back to Vegeta. "I'll let the four of you free roam of this room if you four promise not to attack nor attempt escape. Maybe the six of us can figure something out and you would possibly have two Free willing to help you out on your plans. Are you with us Tojar?"

Tojar nodded a bit still a bit nervous in the penetrating gaze of the warrior's glare. "I would give my word on that. You may have a plan that no one has attempted before and it just may work."

Quietly the four Saiyans nodded their agreement to not try anything but Vegeta spoke up upon his part of the bargain. "We won't attack if you don't attack us first. I don't trust the two of you anymore than I can power up right now which isn't at all. However, I'm willing to take an alliance should we ever need one."

Tojar looked at Vegeta a bit warily and then finally opened the cage door letting the Saiyan Prince out into the room and then released the other three Saiyans as well. When the four of them were again uninhibited Tora looked to Vegeta. "Sire, do you mean to strike an alliance with these two? I don't see why you would."

Vegeta nodded in consideration. "The both of them together could be of more use to the slave population than any other person we've met so far. They know how things work here and they know their jobs. It would be tactically sound should we join forces with them. Tojar knows how a slave should be and what is expected of them and I want to be well trained in all aspects of every type of slave there is. Though I'm not to pleased about being a damn pleasure slave. If I can avoid that task, I will."

Kienna looked at Vegeta with surprise. "You mean you want to be tamed?"

The Dark Prince shook his head. "Not tamed, just trained. Increase my value and also the potential of a good fight should the occasion arise. I need to know what I'm getting myself into so I don't underestimate my foes. There will be many deaths and many battles. Just don't stand in my way and no one will needlessly get hurt."

As Tojar listened to Vegeta's plan he knew that the Prince was laying his own life in his hands and that alone spoke of many things in silence to all of them. This though was carefully calculated and planned in spite of the reckless appearance of given trust. It was anything but that and right now he just didn't have the means to get his strength in any other way than this. Finally the trainer nodded. "I can train you in the slave etiquettes if you want. However don't think I'll go easy on you just because you have a plan. You will be punished for your mistakes and you will not at any time question my methods of training. You will do as you are told when you are told, not as you see fit. Remember you are still just a slave here in Jronia."

Quietly, Vegeta glared back at Tojar with a rage that still silently seethed. "Why does that not surprise me? I bet you would be thrilled on making me do your every whim just so you don't have to do the menial tasks around the stables."

Slowly a grin came to Tojar's lips and that same cruel look gleamed in his pale blue eyes. "You should be doing it anyway, slave. I could easily shock you for even considering this revolt you know, and others would bring you near death. I have no remorse in any of the suffering you slaves endure. You are nothing but a beast of burden to do what is bid of you, nothing more."

The both of them again fell silent. This would be an uneasy and fragile truce between the two of them for now. They both had their own thoughts of how things should be done, both held a dominating will and spirit. Vegeta knew however that he would have to succumb to Tojar's whim for the training and the thought of that alone made him scowl and disgust cross his expression. Meanwhile the trainer only grinned and took up a leash in hand. "My, how I've always wanted to lead a person of Royalty on a leash. You would be a suiting slave indeed should you ever slip up and actually break."

Vegeta only scoffed. "Not on your life Tojar, which I would gladly take by the way. I know what I'm doing and I'm not going to lose sight of that. Try anything stupid and it may result in your death. I will not show tolerance to any more humiliation. I'm more than capable of following you back to the stables without that damn thing clipped to this collar."

Both fists clenched, the Saiyan Prince looked at Tojar with an eager interest to kill the trainer before him. Kienna noted it and then gripped the back of his collar giving it a twist to make him kneel down during which time Tojar clipped the leash to the collar and then grinned. Vegeta half choked as the collar was twisted and a growl escaped his throat. As Kienna let go, the man gave a tug on the leash to make him follow. Grudgingly, the warrior's tail wrapped tighter around his waist and then he followed the trainer out into the blizzard.


	14. Castle Slave

**Jronia**

Written By: SaiyanWarrior-Vegeta

**Chapter 13**

**Castle Slave**

As Tojar and Vegeta entered the stables again, Vegeta looked around at the familiar rows of cells before him. New slaves gave a submissive tuck of their head as they walked by. Then he seen one over on his right that still would not take the stance as had others. This person though didn't have the strong will that the Saiyan Prince did but the warrior knew what would happen in that arena. Tojar stopped right at stall 39 once more and he opened the door. "In you go, just like before. Get used to it, you'll be in here for a long time to come since I'm going to be working you, slave."

Quietly a light growl came to the Saiyan's throat. "My name is Vegeta. You will call me that."

Tojar locked the stall door and shook his head. "I'll call you whatever I see fit to call you and in that point of fact, you will be called Darkfire as Kienna named you. You will answer to that name until given a new one by another Owner. The other three will not be having such an easy time as you though so watch your manners or I may just sell you off to the highest bidder. You start on a team pull tomorrow so you had best put your energy in to that instead of fighting me. You can not win against me and you know that well."

Vegeta turned and leaned against the wall, his coal eyes burning with a silent rage that only seethed beneath the surface. Several other slaves looked at him in surprise that the two of them actually talked and an older one again spoke to him after Tojar closed the heavy wood door to the office. "I thought you would have been tamed already."

Crossing his arms, Vegeta scoffed. "Hell no, my fight has only begun. They will however pay for daring to humiliate me, the Prince of all Saiyans. They got in over their head when they started trying to make me do their whim."

It wasn't long before Tojar came back holding the harness to pull cart with. "Just remember Darkfire, you brought this on yourself when you started to act up."

Vegeta bit his tongue this time and looked the other way. Even pulling cart was better than having to stay in this stall that he was locked in. Perhaps he would learn to escape and then he would hide for a time to regain his energy. Though he would have to be careful to keep it tamped down. That alone would be hard to do with as much hatred and rage he had locked up inside himself. For now the pulling cart would have to do for releasing his pent up anger and yet the more he thought about it the more that plan would seem to work. Tojar was doing a good job keeping up the facade of treating him like any other slave and in that, the Prince dared to give a brief smirk as the trainer entered the stall and placed the harness upon his shoulders and tightened it around his chest.

Before too much time had passed, the trainer and Vegeta both walked out to the cart and one slave was already harnessed up to pull and now he moved beside the other and picked up the side cart shaft and placed his hand in front of the other's as he gripped the middle shaft seperating the two. Tojar sat up top on the seat and took up the whip and lashed it down upon the Saiyan's back first making sure he would start out first then laid it upon the other's. The one next to Vegeta looked over at the Prince with a tinge of fear in his eyes. With the scowl upon the warrior's face, he looked down right evil at this point and one to not be messed with too much.

Vegeta lunged into the harness and tested it and then shook his head then stopped dead in his tracks. Tojar grinned at the sight of this. Never had he seen a slave want to pull more than they had to and seeing it now he sat back and then grinned. "What's the matter Darkfire? Too light for you to pull right now? Thought you'd want the light load."

The Dark Prince looked back a bit and then growled a bit. "If you want me to pull damn it then make it something worth pulling. Its bad enough you treat me like a damn horse without the degradation of a light load to go with it."

Tojar nodded and then grinned. "You'll get the weight you want here soon enough, just start pulling and head to the Southwest. We'll need to go through the gate and then East from there. Move out."

Vegeta only shook his head and with a bit of a snarl, he began to pull in the direction desired. He looked over to his pulling partner and then raised a brow turning his head to the front again as he took on most of the weight. His head lightly tucked, not in a submissive manner but in a very proud fashion instead and that alone turned heads to him. The light clanking of the harness straps and chains drew attention to the team and some even stopped. One finally called out to Tojar and the trainer commanded a stop.

In silence he stopped and waited for the person to come closer to the cart. The man looked at the team and then stood beside the Saiyan. "Tojar, is this one up for sale yet? He looks to have a very presentable fashion to him and I have been looking for a quality slave to pull my carriage. I want one like this one, head in a natural tuck, strong, and very good at pulling cart."

Jumping down lightly off the cart, Tojar walked up beside Vegeta and nodded. "As a matter of fact he is for sale and he is very well suited for pulling not only a carriage, but also a heavy cart. He may not look like he can pull that heavy of a load, but he is very capable of it. Also he has a bit of a temper, a born fighter, so being a fighter slave may be in the books for him as well as show. Would you like to put him through the paces Sire?"

Karr looked at Vegeta and then gazed back at the carriage and nodded. The King circled about the team and then finally walked back to Tojar. "Unhitch him and put him through his paces, I want to see if he's gaited well or not."

Tojar nodded and then took of the lines hooking Vegeta to the cart and then unchained his hands. He clipped a leash to the collar and then led him away from the cart he had been pulling. All the while, the Prince of Saiyans scowled more as the trainer moved quickly at Vegeta and he immediately jerked back and then began to jog it lightly at the end of this long leash. Karr all the while was watching his every move intently.

In silence the Dark Prince moved in the circle doing a series of stops, runs, jogs, walks, and even more intricate steps. Quietly he hated the thought of being sold. They were putting a price upon him, his unmatched skill in battle, his very essence of being. What was this for? So they could use his strength and body for the tasks that they had in mind for him. It only angered him deeper inside but now, he was being looked at by someone with importance. The King of Jronia himself seemed impressed by his defiant and very proud way of carrying himself. This could help him in his plans in a major way if he played his cards right and he planned on doing just that too.

Karr motioned for the Saiyan to stop and when the Saiyan before him stopped, the King neared the Prince and began to check him over, tugging at the ears, eyes, prying the mouth open and then ran his hand along the fur of his tail. Karr raised a brow. "This slave has a tail. I thought originally that it was a belt, but it seems that he has the ability to wrap it about his waist so it doesn't get in the way. Did you make him wrap the tail like that?"

Tojar shook his head. "No Sire, he does that naturally. In fact I haven't even seen him with his tail unwrapped from his waist. He seems to have a strong muscle in it to allow him to keep it upon his waist like that at all times though. Darkfire, unwrap your tail and let us see if it is fully funtional."

Vegeta quirked a brow wondering why they were so interested in his tail. He didn't like the fact of them asking for him to remove it from a protected area either around his waist. However his brow furrowed ever so slightly and he loosened it from the snug grip it had upon his waist and let it slowly down, the tip curled in a way so as to prevent it from being kicked or stepped on. His tail had more nerves in it than a human did in their entire body and such a thing was to be well guarded to keep from harm. He had been in the process of trying to counter that measure, but was captured before he could fully desensitize it to harsh grabs.

Reaching out and taking his tail in hand, Karr looked it over and grinned then let it go. "Is that all you can do with it slave, just wrap it around your waist and let it down? I want to test it out, I want to know what you can do with that, if it could be of some use."

The Dark Prince gave a slight growl. "My tail is fully..."

Tojar clamped down on Vegeta's mouth before the Saiyan could finish his sentence and muzzled him. "Sorry about that Sire. It's like I said, he has a bit of a temper still and hasn't learned to keep his mouth shut."

Sternly, the Saiyan looked at Tojar and then growled as he lashed his tail like a whip and knocked the trainer back some feet and turned to face him. He let his tail wrap back around his waist and lock there so it couldn't be grabbed not caring if the King was there or not. Vegeta hated to be muzzled and the fact that he was again wearing one, put in him in a foul mood as he watched the trainer.

Karr looked at Tojar and then to Vegeta. "He does seem to have a mouth on him doesn't he? What was he before his capture to slavery?"

Both of them looked at each other, Vegeta though looked back to Karr first before the Trainer spoke. "He was and still is the Prince of Saiyans. They are of a warrior race and obviously they are very opinionated, spirited, and extremely proud. Nothing time in bondage can't tame down I'm sure though. He's still pretty fresh to the life as a slave right now."

Slowly Karr then looked to the Saiyan and then his eyes narrowed a bit then a grin curled his lips a bit. "Interesting indeed, he should suit well then at the Castle. Therefore he should already know the tasks that need to be done around Royalty and how they should act as well. Remove the muzzle and hitch him to my cart. I want the one pulling now, sold off. A set of prancing shoes though should be well suited for the slave if he's to pull my carriage. This Saiyan should be a very high stepping slave indeed with a stance like that."

Vegeta only shook his head and went to the waiting carriage and then leaned against it, his arms crossing after his muzzle was removed. It was no use talking to these Jronians it seemed and he wasn't even sure what these so called prancing shoes were. Tojar though came over to him and set a pair of shoes down beside him and then stood back. "Put them on Darkfire. You're going to be sold to the King himself and you will do as told."

In silence he picked up the shoes and looked at them. "You want me to wear these damn things? Are you out of your mind! There's spikes in here that would tear a foot to shreds. Hell no, I'm not going to be in that much pain just for your damn pleasures."

Tojar scowled and then took up the controller and then pressed the button upon it. The resulting shock caused the Saiyan Prince to jump and grip at his collar a bit and then growled when it stopped. Tojar looked to the Saiyan once more and then his eyes narrowed. "You know the type of pain that collar can inflict, now put on the prancing shoes or the voltage goes up."

Grudgingly, Vegeta pulled off his white boots and placed them hidden under the carriage seat and then took up the shoes. His brow furrowed deeply as he went to put them on and the spikes then embedded themselves in his feet as he stood up and kept a light step on them and the resulting pain caused him to step a bit higher. Growling a bit, he danced lightly from foot to foot wishing he had the ability to fly right then. He noticed the other two watching him as he tried to get used to the feel of the spikes in his feet.

Karr nodded lightly. "Hook him to the cart. How much is he to be sold for?"

Tojar looked at the Jronian King and without pause he answered. "He's not that valuable yet Sire, say about 400 gold pieces. He still has a lot of training to be done to him before he is fully capable as a slave here."

Slowly the King grinned. "I always did like a spirited slave anyway. They keep things entertaining around my castle and he will be no different. The only change I'll need with him is a secure place to lock him up at night and a chain to keep him in the same room as myself. He will be for my entertainment pleasures and work. When did this Saiyan have his last shot?"

Looking back over at Vegeta he only grinned. "Its been about a month, it needs to be updated otherwise you may have real trouble on your hands. Here's the controller for his collar. Whenever he acts up in an undesired fashion or you want to give him the shot, then just give him a high voltage jolt for about two minutes and then if he still acts up, give him another for one minute more. He'll be too weakened to fight then and yet still conscious."

Once more the King nodded and then handed him a small leather pouch containing the gold inside for payment. "Here's your pay and make sure he gets muzzled. Of course, with such pride in this slave, I'd love to humiliate him more." Tojar nodded and looked to Vegeta with a bit of an evil grin. "Yes Sire, as you wish."

Vegeta backed up a bit and then growled, his tail wrapping tighter about his waist. "Stay the hell away from me. I'm not going to be treated like a damn beast."

Karr grinned as well, giving the Saiyan Prince a look of sheer delight. "You don't have a choice, slave. When we get back, you will be branded as well to mark you a castle slave."

Before Vegeta could even begin to oppose the suggested humiliation, Tojar already had him muzzled. Shortly after he was put in place of the other slave pulling Karr's carriage. The degradation and the pain made the Saiyan Prince gain even more anger, closer to his snapping point of rage.

The Dark Prince glowered at them as he was made to pull towards the North end of the City, his coal eyes narrowed in bitter hatred. However, things were going just how he had wanted them to, though with much less dignity than he had planned. He was going to make himself known and how he was to do that, he had yet to figure out. Pulling the cart behind him soon had him lost in thought having the rumble of wheels to drown out the voices of those around him.


	15. Secrets

**Chapter 14**

**Secrets**

**A trip to the Castle had gone relatively uneventful in spite of Vegeta's vain attempts of escape. Days would pass before the next piece of the story would come to pass.**

A cold gust of wind chilled him to the bone as he stood there quietly, harnessed up to a cart, his hands bound to the cart shafts. The Prince of Saiyans looked at the building off to the right. Karr had entered it and left him behind to be ready for the next errand. He despised it grudgingly standing there while he enjoyed the warmth of a shelter and a hot meal.

Four guards held him steady, all warmly dressed and they kept a wary eye upon the one they held. Deep inside they knew as well, knew that the one they were holding captive was one that was also holding something else far deeper inside. Other castle slaves eyed him as they passed the windows unseen by the guards and their Master. On occasion, they would stop and stare at the harnessed Saiyan outside in the deadly grips of winter. They began to whisper amongst themselves of how he had defied Tojar's breaking.

As he turned his head to look back at them, Vegeta was struck harshly with the gauntleted wrist of another person. He growled, his eyes wincing from the sting of the blow. The cold had only made the strike feel like it burned into his flesh. And for one week he stood out there, unused, uncalled, and finally put up for sale once more.

Vegeta eyed the next buyer with ruthlessly cold eyes. This new man grinned and looked at him, then started feeling his numbed body. The cart had long since frozen to the ground, fastening it in a thick pack of ice. This other man looked down upon him and his own eyes narrowed. Jerone looked up. "How much for the beast and cart?"

The guard answered dutifully. "800 gold pieces sir for the slave, an additional 500 for the cart, making it 1,300 gold together."

Jerone gripped Vegeta's jaw tightly. "800, this creature isn't worth that much is it?"

Kofor nodded. "Yes sir, he is a one of a kind. A Prince from a nearly extinct race."

Jerone looked at the slave before him and looked over the now tattered cloth that covered him, the many lashes that had found his back, some very deep, others just welts. He slowly looked him over again. "How is the strength?"

Kofor shrugged. "He's been able to pull every load he's had so far."

Jerone again nodded at this. "For that amount of money, he'll work off that debt for me. Why is he muzzled?"

Kofor rested upon the cart shaft making the already weary Saiyan Prince nearly collapse. He had not slept in nearly two weeks and his world was becoming blurred. It was testing his endurance, his lack of patience. Feeling the added weight upon him, made him nearly stagger, instead shifing weight to compensate. Kofor continued. "He still has a problem with temper, something perhaps best settled with a distemper shot as well. A vet could give one to him with the monthly power shot as well. That way he doesn't become too big of a burden upon you."

Jerone nodded holding Vegeta's head up in his hand, locking eyes with Vegeta for the first time. The two stared at each other one with the dark brown eyes, cold and ruthless, the other were still proud, and burned with a silent rage only the Saiyan Prince could know. It was almost hypnotical between them, again the sounds drowning out from around them. Vegeta's coal black eyes spoke of many things, many secrets yet to be revealed and some of that still burned deeper in the gaze than any could ever touch.

The new Owner frowned on this as he let go of Vegeta's jaw. "He is not yet fully broken. How long has he been here? Who was his initial trainer?"

Kofor shrugged quietly looking to the Saiyan before him. "Nearly a year sir. His initial trainer was Tojar. Frankly, I don't know why he hasn't broken yet, but his determination is still very raw and he has a fire in his spirit that seems untouchable by any means of a beating."

Jerone looked back to Vegeta, again locking eyes with the Saiyan Prince. "We'll see how work in the mines will do. He'll either break, or die. Its that simple."

The guard nodded slightly, but his expression was not impressed. He had known how hard the mining slaves were worked, and he looked back to the Dark Prince. Something though said that it would take more than the coal mines to break this slave, and Kofor rested a hand on his shoulder lightly. "He's one of a kind, that's for sure."

Both locked eyes quietly, but Vegeta's own were intense, mysterious, like they held countless and ageless secrets. His own gaze fell, and he knew then that yes, this slave would indeed be different. No words were needed to see the silent flame flicker brightly, untouched, and demanding of respect. That was what Kofor gave as he gave a light pat upon the Saiyan's shoulder, a respect for this as yet unyielding spirit.

Jerone handed him a pouch and the guard counted it quietly then nodded as he placed them back inside the leather bag and cinched it closed and tied it around his belt. Jerone then grinned and got up top the cart and then took up the whip, laying it down harshly upon his back. Vegeta threw his weight into his harness, the ice underfoot began to crack and buckle, however the cart remained trapped in the ice.

The new owner continued to lash the whip down harshly and finally Vegeta threw his weight to the right, then to the left a few times. A loud crunching pop could be heard as the wheels broke free of the ice bindings that held them firm to the ground. Then finally he leaned forward and the cart began to move. Taking it at a careful jog, he quietly pulled all the while Jerone leaned back and watched ahead. When they hit the center of town, Jerone ordered a faster pace and against the sure steady pace, Vegeta hit a light run.


	16. Ice Storm

_**Chapter 15**_

_**Ice Storm**_

As Vegeta struck out to the faster pace, he found it harder to see through the falling snow. The ice started to blind him, but still Jerone pushed him to continue at the run. Half blinded already, he strove to keep pace when a ball rolled out to the street, the dull white against the pure white of the snow gave it away as he tried to dodge the ball only then to see the kid running out after it. He tried to slow down quickly, his feet struggling for traction as he fought to maintain control of the cart. A sickening sound of crushing bone and the sliding of the cart was all that could be heard until a large crunching blow could be felt, and the world faded to black.

A sharp crack sounded as he started to come to once more. Vegeta tried to move, to find himself incapable of it for that moment. Faint shouting could be heard with the cracks, and a light sobbing could be heard. The Saiyan Prince didn't move, he couldn't. He lay there as if dead, his body numbed by the cold winter storm.

Slowly he became aware of the sharp pain that kept him immobile, though his breath was frozen by the dry winds that still hit him. Quietly he stayed there as a few people came out to check things over, the boy was in his mother's arms as she neared the fallen Prince. The lady convinced Jerone to go for a rest in a hotel for the night as she gently began to unbind Vegeta from the cart.

Dully aware of the coaxing to get up, he quietly fought to rise, and only then did the fires of the agony strike him at last. Fighting to rise up the woman would help him gently to his feet as she led him to the stall by her house, in which was one other slave. She placed him inside then threw down an extra bedding of straw upon the floor then helped him to lay back down. Only then did he finally relax enough to take a deep breath.

This other slave looked down at him disgustedly. "So a cart puller wannabe are ya? Well, from sight of that mishap, I don't think you'll ever be called for again."

Quietly, Vegeta looked up at this other slave. "I don't care if I'm ever a great cart puller. This task is menial and cruel, humiliating for a Saiyan Prince to have to fuss over. Besides, I have more important issues to deal with than broken slaves who always do as told."

Vakor shrugged. "Better than being beat all the time, and sorry to say, you aren't a Prince of anything. Does that illusion of being a Prince help you sleep at night?"

Vegeta scoffed and then at that time Tora was brought into the back into the next stall. The Dark Prince looked over at him and then raised a brow. "Tora? How are things looking out there?"

Tora looked up at Vegeta and grinned. "Not too bad right now Sire. That blizzard has us blocked and the Mistress can't get the needed food tonight to feed us. Jerone is pissed off, because of the incident, but he's out cold by booze. How are you doing my Prince. That was a nasty accident you had."

Vakor listened to the both of them. "Wait a sec, you both know each other?"

Tora nodded. "He's my Prince, from Planet Vegeta. He is the only one I will kneel to of my own accord and of my own will."

Vegeta looked at Vakor and then to Tora. "I ache like crazy, the pain intense and I'm pretty stiff and sore right now. Other than that, I've had worse scrapes from the battles I've been in."

Tora nodded. "Yes, we have. You are already the more experienced out of all of us on cart pulling. You may want to offer the Mistress your services to get food so we can eat. Sound fair enough to you? She really is good hearted and will treat you with respect."

Vegeta lowered his head lightly and when he did Vakor began to laugh. "He couldn't pull a cart if his life depended on it."

Lashing out, Vegeta held Vakor by the throat. "I can pull cart better than you think bastard. Now either learn to quit your insulting or your Owner is going to be one slave less."

Vakor looked at him. "I call your bluff, old man."

Vegeta gripped him tightly as a ball of energy flared up in his hand. "Do you really want to find out if I do or not? I've destroyed entire planets without second thought. I can kill you with out even losing any sleep over it."

Vakor choked and then nodded rubbing his throat when Vegeta finally released the powerful grip on his throat and reabsorbed the ki ball in his hand. "Damn that's a grip for such an old man."

Tora shook his head. "You're lucky he didn't kill you. On the Saiyan planet, he is the strongest. If he wanted to, he could make this place nonexistant and not even break a..."

Vegeta waved him off. "Its alright Tora, let the fool believe what he will. Where is this 'Mistress' you keep talking about? Is she inside?"

The other warrior nodded. "Yes my leige. She would be inside right now taking care of a sick child."

Vegeta's gaze lowered again lightly as if in deep thought. "How old is the child?"

Tora shrugged uncertain. "Don't know Prince Vegeta, but if I had to take a guess I would say about seven or eight oldest. He's really ill, unsure if he'll survive another night right now. She has no money for care and they are reduced to nearly wearing rags."

That was all that was needed to be said as Vegeta jumped the gate and then placed a hand on Tora's shoulder. "Rest easy friend, we'll both be needing our strength. I want you to be a backup puller should something go wrong."

Tora nodded and then finally he watched as Vegeta went to the house and peeked inside, stepping lightly as possible as he searched around. "M'lady, its Vegeta, I have something to offer you if you want to hear it."

She gasped lightly and tried to shoo him back. "You're a beast, stay away from my boy, since you nearly ran him over."

Vegeta lowered his head but didn't move. "M'lady, just listen to what I have to say. It'd be either a yes or no and I'll leave you alone as well as your son."

She held a fear in her eyes with his very presence, a common reaction that he had frequently come across. Her eyes gazed to his coal black and he averted them purposely, letting them lower once more. The woman stood and then began to near him slowly. "What is your offer?"

He looked up at her again, his head not lifting. "I can take you and your child to a doctor even now in this storm. Also, I can stop at a store and get food for not only us out in the barn, but for you as well. I'll work off any debt that will be brought on if Jerone will allow it."

Meritha looked at him quietly. "You, a slave, would do that for me? Why?"

Vegeta held his ground, not moving. "Because I know what its like to lose a family. I never knew my mother. The child is innocent of any hardships brought upon those of us working for the Free and Owners. I'm not a born slave m'lady, but a born Prince."

Meritha looked at him as tears began to fill her eyes. He could see the pain and burdens she held back. His gaze turned curious as her expression changed but she went to the room and brought out the boy he had nearly struck. It drove into him a deeper hatred for the Owners of this City but he remained quiet as she grabbed her warmest clothing and threw them on. Shortly after she had her son ready to go and she looked at him. "My son's life hangs in the balance."

Silently the woman looked up into Vegeta's battle hardened eyes and expression but once more she seen something there, a nobility and she swallowed hard before speaking softly, just barely above a whisper. "I'm greatful you would offer this attempt even in such adverse conditions, Prince Vegeta."

He finally raised his head up and then felt a breath catch in his chest. He hadn't expected her to call him by title and name catching him completely off guard. The Dark Prince though would note that as he nodded once then headed out for the barn once more. As he reached the door he paused but didn't look back. "Thank you, for calling me by my name. I'll pull the cart forth but we must make haste."

Vegeta finally opened the door and then walked out. Tora and Vakor could see the urgency of the new mission the Saiyan Prince had found. Vakor had never seen such grim determination in his life and he looked to Tora as Vegeta left the barn with the cart, unharnessed and unbound. Tora looked to the other. "He's on a mission now, a self-appointed task. The Prince does not allow for anything to stand in his way when he has his sights set on a task at hand that he deems worthy of his attention."

Vakor nodded quietly as he watched the blinding snow become a blizzard. White fog started to settle in and ice was fast to form to immobile objects. The man shook his head. "He's insane, facing a blizzard like this."


	17. Saiyan's Heart

_**Chapter 16**_

_**A Saiyan's Heart**_

Vegeta pulled up to the front steps of the house and the woman climbed on the covered coach and he began to pull out. The winds whipped at him, cold and furious, as they howled a death song in his presence. He growled lowering his head more to try to see where he was going, ice pelting his face ruthlessly.

Heavy fogs rolled in as he leaned into the pull, fighting the winds and the slippery roads, his feet sure and steady. His eyes were nearly closed with the snow and yet with a strength and guideance gained from years of warrior training, he picked his way quickly yet carefully through the streets. The Free in the City were nestled down and some peered out the window at him shaking their heads as they watched him go by.

His head low, he fought his way through the cold storm and his head tilted slightly down and to the left. He shivered in the subzero temperatures, the snow growing ever deeper, making it harder to pull. Burying his feet in the ground he pushed on, but if one could see his eyes, they would have seen a determination and will that would make even the most seasoned of Jronians cringe with the unsurpassed desire in the raging ebony eyes.

Inside the coach, Meritha watched the frozen world pass by realizing they were the only ones out in the blizzard. She looked up ahead at the Saiyan ahead and prayed he could make it through as she watched him struggle at the bitter storm. She held her child closer and then took a thick woolen cape and then jumped from the coach, wrapping herself tighter in the clothing she had on. She made her way up quickly to the Saiyan and pulled back on the cart shafts to stop him.

Vegeta stopped and his black hair whipped in the wind and as his coal eyes found her, it nearly took her by surprise how vicious he looked with the determination furrowing his brow. Meritha though quietly moved up to him and then harnessed him into the cart and drew the cape around his shoulders. She then looked at him, knowing words were futile in a storm like this, but he could see she was dependant upon him to get them to the doctor.

Feeling that he was harnessed in once more, he shifted lightly, his white gloves iced to the cart shafts. When she got back in the coach, he again tried to pull, but the wheels were snowbound in ice. He moved left and right several times breaking it free then he moved forward against the white fury. His body numbed from the pull, the pain from the accident had ebbed off as well. Finally what seemed like hours, they made it to the hospital.

Meritha quickly got out and taking her son with her, she ran through the doors as Vegeta stood in the freezing storm. He shivered from the cold as he stomped against the blowing ice to try to keep warm, but even the cape upon his shoulders served little to no good for warmth. Finally, Meritha came back out with a leash, clipping it to the steel collar about his throat, she unhitched the trace lines then led him up into the hospital. In the entrance way, he felt the heat roll over him as the Free looked at him disgustedly that he should enter such a place.

Vegeta glanced at them quietly and then finally he moved to a more isolated corner and sat down, too cold and tired to really care what they thought right now. A physician came up and looked at him, taking up the dropped leash and then tugged at it. The Saiyan Prince looked up at him and then stood, his coal eyes moving to the hall through which Meritha disappeared down to see her child.

Other families waited and kept an eye upon him as if he would attack at any moment, when the doctor looked at him. "What breed are you slave?"

Vegeta looked up but didn't move otherwise. "I'm the Prince of Saiyans. Now if you would drop the leash, I wouldn't mind getting a couple hours of sleep if possible. I still have work to do and I need all the energy I can get if I'm to face that storm."

Surprised, the doctor raised a brow at the explanation. The others looked at him though still quietly but the man released the leash then nodded allowing him to go back to the corner. "You frighten any of the families and we'll make sure you're quickly contained by any means necessary."

Giving a light growl he moved to the corner and then once more laid down. "Forget it. It's possible I'm better trained than any of you bastards anyway. I won't be tamed, ever. Just leave me alone and you will be left alone."

With that, no other words were exchanged and he fell to sleep quietly, his tail unwrapping from his waist and soon the pain again settled in even more than what it had been. His eyes drifted closed when a couple kids had wandered over to him and began to play around and on him. He quietly laid there, knowing kids would be kids, but when one hit his ribs, he gave a light growl and jumped back a bit from the pain.

A receptionist looked up in time to see him move away after hearing a growl as he again nestled back down for rest. Two kids both continued to pester him and as one went to poke at him again in the ribs, his tail caught the hand and he looked to the boy. There he gave a deep breath and went up on elbows. "Careful where you poke kid. My ribs are hurt and I'm not feeling good. I don't mind you coming around but just don't grab my tail or touch my sides, clear?"

Slowly the boy nodded his understanding, no fear in his eyes, but just simply wanting to understand and when he did, he gave the acknowledgment. Vegeta quietly nodded back, releasing the boy's hand and then laid his head back down his eyes closing. Soon enough though, they were tugging at his collar and then hitting his hip as if he were a horse. He quietly just laid there and the parents were relieved that nothing had happened to the boys. They laughed, played and soon, left him alone at last when one parent got up and walked over to him.

The man knelt down beside him and then gently ran a hand over the ribs, finding three shattered and two broken. With a loud thud against the wall, the tail flicked against it as one eye opened. A mere touch on his sides shot some pain through his sides. It was hard to breathe and even harder to move as he quietly let the man check his ribs. Silently, Vegeta allowed the person to run a hand over his ribs and then then he felt a hand slip around his collar and give a gentle tug as if testing it out.

A lady then came over and whispered to the other. "What are you doing with that beast. If he's injured, he should be taken to a vet, not a hospital. He is dirty, smelly, and an animal, just a mere slave. The wretched creature shouldn't be in here anyway."

Shaking his head, he looked outside. "How many 'mere slaves' do you know that could have journeyed through such a blizzard and get here safely, and further more, alive? He hasn't asked for care, but he has three shattered ribs on one side and four broken, two on each side. This slave does not complain about his pain though and that is unusual for one that is untamed. Let alone how calm he is around kids, now tell me, does that not warrant some degree of care?"

Disgustedly the woman sneered. "That beast is not fit to be around me or my family. He probably deserved every injury he's received thus far being as wild and vicious as that creature is."

It was clear that Lontok was getting agitated with her unfounded accusations. There was no evidence that Vegeta had really harmed another here and he watched the Saiyan quietly. He moved over to the Dark Prince and then gently laid a hand on his shoulder and remained there silently. "Look, there isn't a thing he's done here that has provoked or proven these declarations you make upon this slave. If you don't like the fact that this is the only warm place that he has so he doesn't freeze to death out there, then move away and don't pay any mind to him."

The lady rolled her eyes and then moved down a hallway toward a room and entered, then Lontok looked down at Vegeta and gently loosened the chest strap of the harness to be a bit more comfortable. His hand lingered more on the still cold shoulder strap and then shook his head. "Its insane enough to pull in this weather, let alone to be accused of things you didn't do. I don't know why, but its easy to talk to a slave, easier than talking to people like that lady. Maybe its because you slaves don't talk nearly as much as most do, like talking to a pet."

Vegeta listened quietly, not making sound as the man talked to him. He could care less right now what was being said to him as long as they just didn't try to make him move. Feeling the hand on the shoulder strap, he half expected to be told to once more stand up and such. He had no way of knowing what was going on in the room where Meritha had entered with her son, nor why they were taking so long. Letting out a long sigh, the Saiyan Prince winced from the sharp jabbing agony that still burned in his sides.


	18. The News

_**Chapter 17**_

_**The News**_

Impatience was once more getting to him as Lontok watched him carefully. The man reached back and gently began to rub the fur of the tail, smoothing it out but grinned when he seen the Saiyan relax. Lontok though took a sighing breath. "Seems we're both waiting for news on what's going on."

From behind the desk, the receptionist fingered a leather muzzle and then rose and walked over to Vegeta and knelt down, trying to place it upon the Saiyan. Vegeta though kept moving his head to avoid it knowing what that was for. Lontok looked at him curiously. "What's the matter? It won't hurt you, its just leather that's all. Come now and be a good boy so we can be sure you won't attack."

This caught the Saiyan Prince's attention and a deep scowl crossed his face as he growled. "No, its only used to keep me from talking, eating, drinking, and that sort of thing. No thanks, I've had enough of that humiliation. Besides if I wanted to attack, I would have done it by now, so you wear it yourself if you want to, but I refuse."

Shaking his head, the receptionist then quickly gripped behind Vegeta's head and then found his chin, trying to contain the struggle the Saiyan was putting up. Violently, he tried to pull his head up and away from him only to find he was limited on the uprise and it began to infuriate him. He tried to shake his head this way and that not able to avoid the straps finding their way upon his head. He scoffed, hating having to wear one.

Lontok gripped the muzzle and then to the receptionist. "Sir, he wasn't really making any sound and he was being really good. Why must he wear a muzzle if there is no cause for it?"

The receptionist looked at him. "You're new to Jronia aren't you? Here, silence from a slave is mandatory. He was talking out of line to a Free and so, he wears the muzzle."

Lontok shook his head again and then finally he looked up as a doctor came in and shook his head. The man lowered his head to Vegeta and shook his head but tears filled his eyes. He knew without words his wife and child were dead from the injuries induced by the sudden storm. Reaching an arm around Vegeta's neck, he took the opportunity to hide his face upon Vegeta's back and weep for his losses.

Then another doctor came in and then looked to Vegeta. "Come slave, you've been called for in the room of the boy. The lady wishes your company to say goodbye to her son. He doesn't have much longer."

Lontok looked at Vegeta and then their eyes met and it was then the man knew what was buried so deep inside. This Warrior Prince held in him a quiet and silent strength that refused to be touched by anything. The mysteries of the Saiyan warrior before him still confounded him to no end though as if he was still holding back ageless secrets as Vegeta rose to his feet and then followed the doctor to the room.

He stood in the doorway quietly while the boy lay there limply and pale, Meritha had been crying when she looked up with tearful eyes. Even though he was from another race, Vegeta knew the meaning of family and the deep love and loyalty that came with it, having been seperated from his father when he was just barely five years old. Now he stood there having already seen one person lose their family and this woman as well.

Meritha looked at Vegeta and then looked to the doctor asking the physician to leave them be for now. Hesitantly the doctor left the room and then went on his own tasks with other patients. Vegeta entered quietly looking to her and then down to the boy as he closed his eyes and then looked again to Meritha as if silently asking her permission to do as necessary and she nodded. A light blue aura flared around him making him look as if he were in the midst of a blue flame. Vegeta neared the boy and touched him and after a time, the boy woke up as if he had just fallen asleep and just now woke and he got up and hugged his mom.

Then without further words he flickered over to where Lontok was still knelt down weeping. Vegeta placed his hand on his shoulder and Lontok looked up. "They're gone. There's no bringing them back."

Vegeta pointed to the muzzle and then motioned it off. Lontok complied and Vegeta looked to the man once more. "What room are they in?"

Lontok looked at him perplexed at why the Saiyan would ask such a question. However, he replied to the question quietly. "Room 37."

Slowly the Prince nodded and then took hold of Lontok and then quietly he flickered into the room and Lontok nearly collapsed from the overwhelming sight of seeing the wife and daughter laying motionless in the beds. Slowly the man looked up at Vegeta quietly as the Saiyan walked over and pressed two fingers to the neck and raised a brow. "They're not dead. They still have a pulse, faint and irregular, but its there."

Lontok looked up and choked a moment. "What? You mean to tell me you can determine if one is alive or not just by a touch? How is that possible?"

Vegeta shrugged. "When you've killed many, you learn quickly how to determine if your enemy is dead or alive. There's a main artery in the throat that you can feel."

Slowly Vegeta gave the two bedridden people a bit of his energy and they woke up and then Vegeta backed away. The three of them being reunited again left a sharp pang in his heart that he had fought back for so long. Had he of lost both his parents when he was just born, he wouldn't have felt this way at all, but he remembered his father and he quietly made his way to the door. Lontok looked at him. "Thank you...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Vegeta." He answered simply. Then in a flicker, he was gone and before long, without word that he had left the building, he stood harnessed to the cart in the freezing winds once more as Meritha and her son got in the coach. Glad to be away from there, Vegeta cursed himself for showing such a vulnerable side to his war hardened temper.


	19. Paths Crossed

_**Chapter 18**_

_**Paths Crossed**_

The night was passed in the same stall with Vakor as the night wore on. Vegeta perhaps had the least amount of sleep as he struggled in a nightmare. Vakor woke to his constant shifting and then looked to the Saiyan warrior, watching him shift, toss, and turn. Cold sweat covered him as he fought a dreamt enemy. However, not long after Vakor had woke, Jerone walked in and then opened the stall door.

Jerone glared down at the Prince and then gave a harsh kick to the ribs. "Get up damn beast. You should have already been on your feet and ready to go."

Vegeta had literally jumped to his feet only to nearly collapse again from the agony that bit his side like a lion on red meat. He held his ribs and growled from the pain. "Pull the damn cart yourself, bastard. You have two hands and legs and you're ribs aren't broken or shattered either."

A club found Vegeta's jaw, whirling him around and back down to the straw. Jerone stood over him a cruel look in his eyes. Tora and Vakor both backed up watching the Saiyan struggle against his Master. "Don't _ever_ disrespect me like that again, you wretched beast. You start on delivering the coal. You slack off at all, you'll get a worse beating than you thought possible."

With a growl Vegeta stood back up again. "Give me your worst. I don't fear you Jerone, I never have and I never will. If you want your 'precious' coal delivered, then you best start respecting me first. Without slaves, this city would be nothing, just a ghost town."

Jerone laughed slightly. "Well then, good thing we catch and break beasts such as yourself then isn't it slave? For backtalking me and for defying your Master, you will be punished."

**-Seven Years Later-**

A blistering day wouldn't even describe how hot the sun beat down on the City this day. Vegeta pulled the cart quietly hating the fact that he was pulling but hating worse having to go back to a Master's home. His coal eyes reflected that raging disgust, that indignant feeling of being forced to do another's bid. The battles he held with Jerone had been intense and painful as he pulled to the back alley of a store that had ordered the coal delivered.

He parked the cart and unloaded his burden and just as he was about to leave, he looked up seeing another in a tree. He shook his head and then moved forward when this lady dropped down and stood in front of him. In a demanding voice she called to him. "Who are you? What is your name?"

Vegeta let a mean look furrow his brow seeing no collar upon this woman and he thought her another Jronian Free. He scoffed as he answered. "I'm Vegeta."

The female came forward and looked at him then smacked his face harshly. "You're no Prince of mine, Vegeta is much stronger than this. You allow yourself to be commanded like a common beast. Have you no Pride left?"

Vegeta snarled at the last words she spoke. "I have my Pride, and never backhand me again woman. I am who I say I am."

She circled him with narrowed eyes then up in front of him again she tried to slap him again only to find her hand had been caught by Vegeta's own gloved hand, his tail which was unwrapped soon found his waist and cinched tightly it. The female widened her eyes slightly. "You're weak, a pathetic excuse of a Prince."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes. "Do not judge me so quickly woman, you know _nothing_ of my daily fights. If you seen and experienced half of what I do, your views would rapidly change. I'm fighting a silent war and I'll not have it jepordized by anyone, including you. Now step aside."

Blue walked up to him and then scoffed. "At least I don't break to their whims."

The Dark Prince growled, his tail tightened around his waist. "You think me broken female? I'll kill in a heartbeat and not think twice."

Blue rolled her eyes and then and walked toward him. "So then why didn't you? You have more than enough strength to kill them."

Vegeta just glared at her, knowing now for a while this female was a Saiyan as well. Her arrogance and ignorance though was starting to make him edgy and tempered. "I would if they didn't give me these damn shots every month. Plus I don't feel like being shocked every time I charge one anyway. I have other plans of which I will not reveal."

The woman raised a brow then finally stepped to his side. "Well then, would you like a little help?"

Coldly the Saiyan Prince scoffed at her. "No, I'm behind schedule now and that means a beating already thanks to your 'help'."

With that he picked up the cart shafts and growled moving past her. He had nothing to prove to her in the back of his mind. The nightly beatings he received were always harsh and sometimes left him unable to move and that alone flared his temper even more over the years. To those that thought they knew him by a gentle side, really had no idea what was buried deep in the heart of the Saiyan Prince.

Blue followed beside the cart but Vegeta said nothing more as he walked the streets of Jronia. When crossing a particular intersection, a group of people laughed and jeered, a few even threw rocks at the Dark Prince, his brow furrowed but he paid them no mind. However it drew his rage even deeper. Beneath his breath he growled. "Your days are numbered."

He would pass by quietly and then came to the City Hall. There he stopped and began to unload the coal in the designated area while a Free came out and gripped his collar harshly, clipping a leash to it then hauled him to the side and tied him with his arms wrapped around a post and securely bound so he couldn't give much of a fight. His back was bared as the person took up a whip. Vegeta's eyes narrowed, this had gone on for seven years now, a few more lashings didn't faze him in the least.

Quietly, after the few lashings he turned disgustedly toward the cart as soon as he was unbound from the post. The one that had just whipped him, was only given a cold glare of hatred. He hated time limits and if it weren't for the fact he had to soon return, he would have given him a beating if not killed him.

Vegeta had indeed killed many as well. Blue stood by nearly horrified at the lashings as Vegeta looked to her. "That was nothing. The real punishment begins when I get back to Jerone's. Bastard, I should have killed him when I had the chance. Seven years under him is more than enough."

Blue couldn't say much at all, her blue eyes looked at him. "You should have killed him! Why didn't you?"

Vegeta looked at her again and began to pull out. "If I killed him, there would be at least twenty others that would have taken his place and then destroying them would have doubled it. I've been there, I've tried it and I'm not making that mistake again. I'm not even a Super Saiyan yet, but I am becoming quite the escape artist. Soon enough they will know a terror more lethal than their precious Realm Ruler, Syn."

Blue looked at Vegeta but didn't say more. She knew from what she had witnessed that this fight was much larger than just him and Jerone. This was a war that was raging between him and an entire city. Nothing more was said as Vegeta pulled the empty cart back toward Jerone's mines and there his Owner would wait for his arrival, timing him as usual. The slightest of a second off deemed a punishment of a severe kind.

As he approached the mines, he knew without the aid of any time device that he was a few minutes late. Jerone stood up and his eyes narrowed as he motioned the Saiyan Prince toward the mansion he lived in. Vegeta knew exactly what his "Master" was wanting. It was his favorite way of serving his so called lessons. Isolation would make it so there was no one around to help defend him nor to interfere.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed as Blue looked at him. Her eyes were wide as she looked at his gaze, trained like a silent killer's waiting simply for the time to strike. They were cold, unfeeling, bitter, and the rage in them was unspeakably deep. His head tucked ever so slightly knowing what was to come as he braced and stepped quickly for the mansion looming before them. Under his breath, Blue could hear him mutter two words that made her realize just how long he had been in this fight alone with very little to no help. "Nothing changes."


	20. Small Rumors

_**Chapter 19**_

_**Small Rumors**_

As he walked into the grand entrance through the tall wood doors decorated with glass designs, Vegeta gazed to the white stone that made the tall, thick pillars and the outside of the mansion. It would look like a dream home for any who gazed upon it. For those unfortunate enough to be forced into a collar in Jronia, this place was more like a dark and dreaded nightmare waiting to consume it's next victim. He was to be the next victim as he walked fearlessly behind Jerone, his gaze though did not lower as had many others before him. He refused to give them the pleasure of truly breaking him.

Sweeping from one wall to another, it would look like a large marbled throne room with a lonely desk at the front of the room and banners strung up on the otherwise bare walls. He itched under his left hand glove upon which was branded four numbers, 3607. That number was what he was called by, what he was to answer to, and in that manner he was to somehow lose semblance of who he was. It didn't work and nor would he let it work.

Jerone turned around and with Vegeta's hands bound behind his back and his feet hobbled with short shackles he pounced on the Saiyan with a ferocious appetite to devour whatever spirit was left in the proud Prince. However, after each beating, he stood back up and this time Jerone had him transferred into a cage outside. The time had come for him to be isolated from all others except for Jerone.

Vegeta though would have none of it as he worked for the next several nights trying to pick pocket a guard that stood at the door of his prison. After a week of beatings from the guards and Jerone, he finally succeeded in getting a thin metal shard and he tucked it away in his right hand glove letting it set crossways on his palm so as not to arouse suspicion that he had it even if he did move his hand. That shard would be his ticket out of that hellish cell.

**-One Year Later-**

During this past year Vegeta had secretly married Blue, but he still pulled the carts on the lonesome trek through the City of Jronia. His wife had been caught by this point and enslaved whether by choice or forced he didn't know, though Vegeta had perfected the cold outward appearances of an uncaring individual, even when he felt most insecure. Vegeta's performance was flawless as he showed an unfeeling gaze whenever they struck his wife before him. He would not let that become a weakness, he couldn't afford to if he were to survive. He simply acted as if her suffering had no meaning to him at all.

Blue would be given the treatments of rape and so many other things he had been through before. His eyes didn't even show a flinch when a whip was cracked down on her back. Vegeta gave no sign that he was affected at all by her torments. He would stick to his mind's written script. Tonight though would be different as he watched the rise of a half moon from the window of the mansion as he was shoved down the hall to his cell.

Once inside, Vegeta turned but made no attempt to get out, instead resorting to an impatient pacing in which they had gotten used to by now from him. His two guards out front of his cage thought nothing of the pacing which he had done from the first month he had been placed in this confounded prison. Night after night he had made it a habit of trying to pick the lock when the guards were fast asleep.

This night though, he made sure to not wake a single person as he silently inserted the shiftable yet sturdy piece of steel into the lock and with a swift and quiet clicking sound, the door to his cell pushed open with ease. He walked over to Blue's cage and then picked her's as well, his footfalls silent upon the stone. Picking up his beaten wife, he soon left the mansion without trace that he was even gone. The doors had been locked back, straw was placed under the thin blankets, making them look like they were where they were supposed to be.

Vegeta stole immediately up the side of a building and then climbed to the rooftops and there leapt from roof to roof. After all, what native ever looked up to see what could be stealing through the shadows. He ran fast and hard to the Southern Forest and there he would find paths, going this way and that as he came upon a cave, opened with a boulder to one side. He looked to it and then entered.

Gazing around silently, he rolled the stone to cover the front of the cave and then when all was secured, he built a small fire. Upon its walls, he began to draw out the life he had lived before this City and then what had gone on scene for scene what had happened to him and whoever allied themselves with him upon its silent and unspeaking walls. This place would be his home now, his lair. Little did he know at the time that this lair was not only unknown, but there would be much more to the twisted and shifting maze that hid behind the wall of this first entrance.

Taking care not to step out too far yet, he scanned the dark forest with his black penetrating gaze. He heard someone tramping out in the brush and he stood alert, his eyes fixed on the direction of the sound. There was nothing else around otherwise as he quietly moved to the brush, cautiously making sure that he was not heard. He peered out from the brush to a figure that stood just a little taller than he was, a guess about five foot nine. The orange gi and cobalt blue shirt with the small emblem on it drew attention and his eyes narrowed more.

Goku stepped through the forest looking around for something or someone. He was unmistakeably a Saiyan as well as he walked closer and closer to the place where Vegeta hid so carefully. Kakarrot stopped and looked at him, and Vegeta lowered his power nulled by the drug, he wouldn't be sensed so easily. Goku sat down on a log and pulled out an apple from his pocket and Vegeta licked his lips. He hadn't eaten in nearly a week as his coal eyes gazed to the single apple Kakarrot held in his hand and he watched him and it.

Vegeta waited for just a bit when Goku was not on guard as he then launched out at the other Saiyan. The surprise attack worked as he snatched that apple and stood there ready to fight if need be as his tail cinched about his waist a little tighter. Goku looked to his empty hand and then the figure standing partially in the shadows. "Who's there? Come out and show yourself before I am forced to take action."

Softly he growled as Vegeta stepped more into the light. Kakarrot looked at him and his eyes became excited and Vegeta grew more leary of his actions. Slowly, Goku turned to face him more fully. "There you are, Bulma's worried sick about you!"

Vegeta raised a brow. "Bulma? Who the hell is that? Another damn Jronian Free? Have I been already sold?"

Kakarrot tilted his head. "Bulma's your wife Vegeta, don't you remember?"

Vegeta scoffed. "I think you got your Saiyans crossed. Who the hell are you anyway?"

Goku was again taken by surprise. "Come on, you've always called me by my Saiyan name Kakarrot. You have to remember that much."

Vegeta only glowered and shook his head giving a light snort to the side. "No I don't. I've had the last 9 years in this hell hole."

Walking casually up to Vegeta, he shook his head. "No, you spent it on Earth. You took off and didn't return. We kind of missed your temper and all."

Not wanting to be closer to this person, Vegeta matched him step for step back to keep his distance from Kakarrot. "I'm not the Vegeta you seek. Now leave me the hell alone."

Quickly Vegeta turned and bolted headed for the lair a good half mile off. However before he could go ten yards, he was again looking Goku face to face. He growled and began to charge at Kakarrot doing what he must to get through with his prize in hand as he gave a quick headbutt. Goku however came down with a sharp snap to the back of his neck, forcing the Saiyan Prince to land hard on the ground, he lay there quietly as Goku approached him, and for the first time the other Saiyan glimpsed the black steel collar about Vegeta's throat.

Quickly, Vegeta snapped up again and tripped Kakarrot then finally he pinned the younger Saiyan under him, holding him with a grip even Goku seemed surprised he had. Vegeta growled quietly as his coal eyes fixed on the larger Saiyan in his hold. "Give me one very damn good reason I shouldn't snap your neck here and now Kakarrot."

Kakarrot struggled in the Saiyan Prince's grasp gaining no headway, being effectively pinned and forced to remain where he was. An arrow grazed his shoulder and Vegeta growled again, leaving the apple as he bolted once more the shoulder wound dripping blood from time to time. He had to veer them away from the lair he had just found. They were out to catch him if possible, but to the Jronian Free, dead was acceptable.

Goku stood up as soon as he could but by that time, Vegeta was gone from sight and sense. He looked to the apple on the ground and then looked back to the lead hunter. The man looked at Kakarrot and then to the brush. "Watch that beast, he's quite a vicious one. Don't let him steal anything of your's either, he's been noted to have turned into quite the pick pocket thief. Rumor has it a ghost sprung him from his Owner's home."


	21. Legends

_**Chapter 20**_

_**Legends**_

Goku was taken aback at the coldness of these people as they warned him of Vegeta and what he was wanted for. Kakarrot stood there in disbelief. "A beast? Why would you call another being a beast? I don't understand, I'm rather new here."

The hunter raised a brow, looking to the Saiyan's throat, seeing no collar nor marking that signified the one before him had ever been a slave, much like the Saiyan they were hunting was before coming here. "He's a slave here in Jronia, wears a black steel shock collar, and is branded on the left forearm with the number 3607. If you see him again, don't let him out of your sight until we can catch that no good piece of filth. The creature is to be considered dangerous and still partly wild. We've been trying to break that slave now for about nine years."

Goku nodded but didn't say a word, not promising anything as he began to grasp how things worked here. He couldn't understand the reasons behind their accusations, except for the dangerous side of the Saiyan they hunted, his throat was still sore from it. His eyes looked up at the hunters and then stood aside and they rushed past. When all was silent again, he whispered to the forest around him. "A slave? Wounded, hunted, and treated like an animal, no wonder his temper was flared when he came across me. He's been fighting hard and long."

Gazing at the apple in his hand, he looked in the direction Vegeta had disappeared and then closed his eyes and flickered before him, causing the Saiyan Prince to stagger back from the stream by which he was tending to the wound. The look of surprise and a bit of fear was unmistakeable in the Prince's eyes, but he also noticed how quickly it changed. Goku held out the apple in his hand and Vegeta eyed him warily. "The hunters don't know where you are Vegeta. I didn't tell them anything, but I see now why you ran from them."

Vegeta scoffed. "Don't give me any pity Kakarrot. I never asked for it and I don't want it, I'm doing fine on my own."

Goku shook his head. "You look thin though..."

Before Kakarrot could finish what he was saying Vegeta had turned his back and begun digging up a few types of roots and some berries off a nearby bush, grazing from them lightly as he picked them. He washed off the root thoroughly and then began to walk back toward an outcropping of rock. His demeanor though didn't change, he was still very leary around Goku. "I hadn't eaten for a few days. So what, I'll live. What the hell do you want anyway? Can't seem to get away from you for nothing."

Goku found a stump and sat upon it as Vegeta lit a small smokeless fire and then carved out a dish from a piece of wood with a sharp stone. Watching the Saiyan Prince was like watching an educational show without the narration as he showed and displayed a way to survive out in the wild with nothing to start from. When he was done, he scooped some water in the makeshift bowl and then put the roots in it and placed it in the fire until it would boil. Goku looked at him and then curiosity once more took the Saiyan again. "Do you really have the number 3607 branded upon your left arm?"

Vegeta looked at him and then his gaze fell to the fire before him. His coal eyes reflected the raging flames flickering before them. They danced in his penetrating stare as he pulled down the left glove and revealed the four numbers mentioned on the underside of the forearm. He hated that marking with a burning passion, hotter than the fire that burned before them. Goku seen it and looked up to the black collar about Vegeta's throat, knowing that Vegeta would not have let it rest upon his throat if he had been given the choice. "You were forced to slavery? Why do you let yourself be controlled?"

Quickly snapping his head back to look at Goku he growled. "What do you know of my fights? Nothing! You think I like to be controlled? Why the hell do you think I escaped!"

He quietly turned snapping up a stone dish and then quietly he began picking even more berries as he thought of his wife back at the cave. He had left her behind and shielded from sight by the boulder covering the entrance. The Saiyan Prince could only hope the hunters didn't find her yet and that she would be safe for the time being. Glaring up at Kakarrot, he turned, pulling the boiled roots off the fire, and then began to head back for the lair.

Goku quietly watched him for a moment, thinking about how the Vegeta on Earth had always shut out others as well. This time though, he was seeing something far greater taking place than just ego or bruised pride, it was all a matter of survival, pure and simple. The younger Saiyan followed Vegeta quietly, as if watching to see what he was doing and where he was going. However half way to the cave, Vegeta had stopped and was looking back at him.

With a bit of a disgusted look he gazed at Kakarrot. "Why do you follow me? You nearly got me caught by hunters before."

Goku backed down a bit letting Vegeta have his place and respect. "I'm just eager to know what you are hiding and where, that's all. I don't mean any harm to come to you."

The Dark Prince only scoffed again. "Yeah right. More like follow me so you can tip them off. Just leave me the hell alone!"

Kakarrot shook his head and remained behind as Vegeta turned and walked off again as he gazed after the Saiyan Prince. In the distance, Goku could hear the hunters closing in again as he raced to warn Vegeta, but he found the Saiyan Prince already fighting off and killing many of the hunters, though his side and shoulder had been shot through with arrows. Goku could only watch right now as the hunters tried to take down Vegeta like a wounded animal. Nets were thrown and yet he managed to avoid them.

Shouting and hollaring, these men had completely surrounded Vegeta, cornering him as a dart was fired in his direction. Vegeta would feel the thud and the sharp prick as he immediately took to the trees and was quickly out of sight. However, his disappearance didn't seem to faze the hunters in the least. "He couldn't have gone far, the beast has been tranqed!"

Kakarrot looked at the hunters as they passed by and then to the scattered bodies lying broken and dead on the ground before him. He looked to the direction Vegeta had taken off in and then shook his head realizing just how much like an animal the Saiyan Prince had been treated as. Vegeta had circled back though and now looked at Goku foundering around a bit. His eyes heavy, he curled in the tree and then finally let the tranq force him to sleep.

When Vegeta woke however, he would find himself in a net, bound up and muzzled. A headache would spread as the hunters celebrated their capture and all the while Kakarrot had remained in the background watching how they had pulled him from the tree and took little care of the wounds he had already suffered from them. Kakarrot was disgusted by the way they treated Vegeta like a game to hunt down and when captured, they acted as if he were a prize trophy that had been found by accident and worth a lot of money.

If one looked closer however, they would have seen that he was well on his way to freeing himself as he subtly worked. Goku caught sight of this but said nothing watching between when he worked and the others laughing with their backs turned to Vegeta. Silently the Dark Prince worked at the bindings holding him and without sound he managed to not only get out of his bindings but take off as well. Though wounded, Vegeta made quick progress as he navigated the forest paths with just the moonlight showing the way. Kakarrot though would keep his distance but he followed Vegeta back to the cave and there struggle to pull a boulder away and then finally rolled it aside.

He gazed around the cave finding his wife there as she laid on the ground, illness having settled in and Vegeta lowered his head a bit. He had lost the needed roots and berries to aid the healing process. Goku though held the boiled roots in his hand and taking a deep breath he neared the cave and quietly peered in. "Vegeta? You dropped the roots and berries. I was able to salvage the roots but the berries are lost I'm afraid."

Coal eyes looked at Goku with a gaze that spoke more than any words could say, one of accepting a fate but hating to. One of refusing a fate that seemed to follow him as the hunters tried to locate him to take him back to Jerone. He stood there silently having no other place to go other than where he was right now. He said nothing at all as he took the roots from Kakarrot, then turned back and began to crush and grind it to get the liquid out of it. The root made a paste with it and he quietly began to tend to Blue.

Vegeta knew that this day was when the shot would wear off but as Kakarrot stood there, the both of them could hear the hunters in an angry prowl through the forest. There would be no escape this night for Vegeta nor Blue. Kakarrot tried to fend them off, but there was too many to fight away and a tranq had found Goku and a cold band was snapped around his neck. When the hunters were sure that Goku would no longer interfere with the capture of the Saiyan Prince and the female, they released it after shocking Vegeta into a point of exhaustion.

After binding and muzzling him with chains, they drug him to a tree and clipped a chain to the collar and then tied him to one tree. Another took a choke chain and looped it around Vegeta's throat as well and pulled it tight. Monock pulled at him and then as the chain cinched tighter around his throat, Vegeta began to fight and hard. Monock yanked it causing the new collar to choke him harshly. The Saiyan Prince, already wounded from previous fights with them found his strength giving way as he sank to his knees and shook his head.

Blue was sick with a fever and several wounds, she would be of no help to escape. They looked her over and then sneered. "That female isn't going to make it, leave her and take this beast to the mansion. Jerone will be glad that his slave is caught alive and with plenty of energy to still work through tomorrow."

Vegeta only struggled for breath as the cinch on the choke chain around his throat was only tightened more then tied off around another tree by a length of chain. That night they laughed and tormented Vegeta with taunts, mud flung up to his face, one even putting feces into his hair and on his face. Goku though could see the indignations they were placing upon the Saiyan before him. A few got up and forced alcohol down his throat gained with a few kicks, a few lashings, a sound beating with a club, and finally they let him be as they tucked into their mats and blankets.

After they had drifted to sleep, he used his shoulder to wipe away as much of the filth that he could. Finally, he too tried to rest with his legs tucked up under him. He was tired, sore, and his pride had been severely wounded. The rage of it alone was enough to cause him to tremble as Goku stood back to observe how these people were and also seen that Vegeta had his temper not to be arrogant nor ignorant, but to survive. It was vital that the Saiyan Prince did not show any sort of being broken but in times of what would soon come, it was hard to not feel the degradations that was placed upon him.

That night though a new legend was about to be born out of the rage, humiliation, and a tormented spirit that was unmatched in every way. As Vegeta sat there in the silence of the night bound and muzzled, he felt something inside of him finally snap. The leather muzzle that held his mouth shut broke. Goku had yet to reach this state as he felt a power surround the area unlike any he had ever felt before. The very ground trembled under this increase and Kakarrot's eyes snapped up to Vegeta.

The hunters roused as the chains burst off of him and Vegeta stood up slowly. His eyes flashed green as the men, including Monock jumped away quickly the fear in their eyes but Goku watched. He had heard of the Super Saiyan legend but something told Goku this was going to be far more than just the coming of a rumor, it was the dawning of a Legend and he was standing witness to it as it played right before his eyes.


	22. The Ghost

_**Chapter 21**_

_**The Ghost**_

Vegeta had managed to slay the hunters but one, Monock, managed to get back to the City. He growled as he moved toward Jronia in silence, stealing to the rooftops. The Dark Prince had shifted back to his normal form to avoid being seen as he quietly moved through the shadows. With no witness to this, he knew now was his time to strike when he heard the cracking of a whip from down in the street.

Gazing down into the street, he watched as an Owner beat upon a slave and he jumped down off the shingled roof and stole to the shadows. Quickly he moved under the starlit skies to the place only to power up to his newly attained form of Super Saiyan. Gripping the slave that had been beaten upon, he only looked to the Owner.

The man was tall and brutish, clothed well and leaning on the heavy set side. There was no doubt though that the slave he was beating had only scraps, thin and scrawny as he was. Vegeta only looked to the man as the master stepped back. "Who are you? What the hell do you want!"

Vegeta stood there silent, and only then did he let off a blinding flash of light and when the Owner could see again and any other onlookers could once more use their vision, Vegeta and the slave had vanished. The Owner went to a panicked state and looked around trying to find out where they could have gone, but not even footsteps in the dust remained. The man swallowed hard and took a few steps back.

Terrified, he ran to a bar, nearly tripping on the three steps leading to a surrounding porch. The inside of the bar was relatively noted as a middle class man's style, above the below and below the upper, they would say. About fifteen others were in there with the tender as they told their drunken stories and gazed to the man as he all but fell through the push doors. Small square tables with booths lining the edges made the building seem a bit homey. Jakon's footsteps fell heavy on the wood floor as he made his way to the tender asking for a drink.

Nodding, the bartender just filled a glass and handed him the drink taking the money. He gazed at Jakon and raised a brow. With a little bit of a grin, he decided to ask him the question. "What's the matter Jakon, you seem to have seen a ghost, pale as your face is. Are you alright?"

Jakon looked at his glass. "A ghost, yes, maybe that's what it was. It took my slave right out from under my nose. Damn ghost didn't say a word, just walked right up, took hold of my slave, blinded me, and then when I could see again, they were gone. The both were just gone. No footsteps, nothing to even signify that he was there, I looked and could find nothing."

One of the patrons looked up and nearly laughed. "Can you describe this 'ghost' of your's there pal?"

Jakon nodded as he stood. "He was 5' 5, lean and well defined in muscling. He wore a blue sleeveless shirt, and form fitting blue pants that matched. White boots and gloves covered his hands and feet, but his eyes. Those light emerald green eyes, they were haunting, penetrating as if he stared right into your very heart and soul, like he could read your thoughts. His hair stood like candle flame, golden in color, and it looked as though fire surrounded him. A black band was around his throat, but his gaze was purely wild."

The man took a seat and swallowed half of his drink. "I tell you that was evil, pure evil that I seen this night. If he is a ghost, then I wouldn't want to piss it off."

Wiping out the glass in hand the bartender shot another question at him. "A ghost that wore a collar? A ghost slave?"

Jakon trembled, his hand shaking visibly as he set the drink back down. "I don't know what it was, but from here on out, I'm not going to own another slave. He didn't speak, didn't move, didn't have any fear that a slave would have. He was there one moment, having come out of nowhere, and then was gone just the same. I'm done with the slave business, from here out, I'm only dealing in weapon trading."

All through the night the same story was told again and again. A figure of the same height and description was told. Vegeta had been out taking slaves from the free and during this time, had happened to push the boulder from the back of the entrance way and revealed a massive and dangerous maze through the mountain range. He had managed to get them through but in the City, the people began to talk.

The next morning as he pulled cart for Tojar, he happened to hear of the night raid that had struck fear in this City and he couldn't help but give a hidden grin. They had called the night crusader simply by the name, Ghost. The rumor would fast spread and soon slaves would whisper the rumor and the Free and Owners began to keep a watch out for this Golden Ghost. Quietly he pulled out headed for the next destination and when he did, things just seemed a little better with the fear the Free were feeling now.

Jerone had come back to Tojar by the time Vegeta arrived and without so much of a word, Jerone had gripped Vegeta's collar and hauled him to a cell and threw him in. "That damn slave is more trouble than he's worth."

Tojar looked at Vegeta and then raised a brow back at Jerone. "Why is that Jerone?"

Giving a glare to the Saiyan Prince he coldly replied. "Last night that damn slave escaped. I'm sure he's been up to no good."

Tojar though shrugged. "Maybe this 'Ghost' everyone is talking about sprung him from the cell you had him in. It certainly is a possibility don't you think?"

Vegeta nearly laughed but the grin on his face was clearly one of unspoken secrets. Jerone hated that look and threatened Vegeta with the whip nearby and growled at him. "Wipe that smirk off that face of your's or I'll do it for you, damn wretched beast!"

The trainer did laugh this time as he neared Vegeta's stall and looked back at the Owner before him. "This is what he's wanting Jerone. Your getting flustered and angry over his deeds only encourages him to do them more and more often. He's a Saiyan, he doesn't break in the conventional methods. I know, I tried to already, and obviously, it didn't work."

Vegeta and Tojar both broke out to laughter as Jerone started to turn red in his face. He grumbled and then spoke up finally. "Ha, ha, go ahead and laugh you two. I want Vegeta sold to the next bidder. Serves him right for not coming straight back last night, and as for this Ghost, as soon as I get hold of that creature, I'll make sure he's skinned alive and hung out to dry."

Tojar looked at Jerone. "Now don't go tampering with the Ghost. Who knows what will happen if provoked, he could be extremely dangerous and frankly, as hard as Vegeta is to break, I would think the Ghost would be harder to catch and tame. He obviously has a hideout somewhere. Owners are taking caution and the slave market is dropping from it out of fear that not only will their slaves be taken, but that they could possibly wind up dead."

Vegeta listened, hiding a look of sheer amusement as he leaned against the back wall and overheard them talking. "It seemed to me that he was not the type to put up with the garbage you Free deal out the slaves anyway. Then again, I'm only speaking on a slave's point of view."

He loved to spur on a comversation like this but Jerone shook an angry fist at the Dark Prince, threatening him under his breath with enough swear words to make a sailor die of shame. Vegeta only grinned. "As I said Jerone, do your worst."

Jerone was too flustered to do anything at that point as he turned and finally walked out on them and Vegeta simply walked to the back of this prison and then gave another laugh as Tojar joined with him on it. "Who would have ever thought ten years ago that we would be laughing at something like this? You really are one of a kind Vegeta, you truly are one of a kind."

With that, he began to pour in water and slid in a tray of food and worked on down the isle. As Tojar got out of hearing range he grinned. "So, I have become the Ghost. At least the name is decent."

He gave a smug smirk as his coal eyes strayed down the familiar halls that he had known when he had first come. However, there was going to be more than the Warrior Prince had first conceived. Unknown to others what he had become, he intended to keep it that way. Right now though he simply basked in the success of one night's worth of fear.


	23. Ghost's Lair

**Chapter 22**

**Ghost's Lair**

Vegeta waited as Tojar left the building this night and looked to the wall grate up high upon the steel frame of the building. Pulling out the metal shard he held in his glove, he noted several others watched though he knew they wouldn't say anything. Picking the lock quickly, the Saiyan Prince would open the door and gazed around. Spotting several crates, he shoved them over to the wall and stacked them high.

He would climb up on the crates, balancing in the act as he twisted the screws from their secure holdings. There would be no resting yet as he pulled off the grate and then sat on the edge of the square hole that would provide his temporary freedom. Carefully, he looked across and then finally leapt onto the drainpipe. From there, he again climbed to the rooftop and began to jump again from roof to roof. He hated having the shot that nulled his abilities. Swiftly he would dart for the south wall around the city and then in the shadows of the night, he scaled them and bolted for the Southern Forest.

As he entered the Southern Forest, he looked around in silence at the tall trees. Heavy fog lay upon the ground in a silent cover swirling around his ankles. A purplish hue was given through the massive oaks and pines as the sun filtered through the evening skies. His coal eyes moved about studying the forest around him. As he took in the sights, a shiver ran up his spine as he continued forward. Whether it was from the eerie silence or the cold, was hard to determine.

Glancing backward, he found none other followed him, no hunters, no Free, and not even Kakarrot. He finally took a deep sigh and pressed on alone and his gaze settled upon what appeared to be a deer trail. He took the path and carefully started to make his way through the slender and thorn lined trail. Stopping at a stream, he again began to tend to the wounds of which he had sustained.

Taking off what remained of his tattered blue shirt, he looked to the cloth and then shook his head as he ripped it in long pieces. After doing this, he started washing and wrapping the gashes that blood seeped from. When finished, he gave a bit of a hesitation, his ears and senses open like a radar. Vegeta knew it would only be a matter of time before they started their hunt upon him once more, he had to find shelter and quickly.

Storm clouds again rumbled across a distant horizon as he stood and headed for the unknown parts of the forest. His newly obtained form allowed him more energy to work off of and he was greatful for it. Slowly, he walked looking once more to a large cliff before him. Standing up on a high ledge, he looked down at the deep gaping maw through the mountain range. Treacherously jagged and shrouded in mists, he sucked in a breath and began to make the trek into the valley before him, the gateway to those mountains.

Upon reaching the mountains, he peered up at the rough, sharp rocks jutting upward on the face of the tall peaks before him. Slowly the Saiyan Prince looked around and leaned against the boulder only to be surprised by the sudden shift. Inspecting it a little closer, the Warrior turned and moved inside the cave. It was the same place he had taken his wife. His eyes lowered slightly in thought and then when his head lifted again, grim determination could be seen in the fiery depths of the Saiyan Prince's black eyes.

Entering the Lair once more, he found that the cave had been relatively untouched. Picking up a stone he looked to the far wall, it was ajar. Slowly stepping up to the back wall, he shoved yet another boulder aside and peered beyond. The caverns were dark and silent with the sound of a trickle now and then from above. Feeling the walls of the cave, he ran his hand around the smooth lining of the lair and wonderment took his curiosity further. Flaring into the Super Saiyan form, it served as a perfect light by which to explore with. He just had to make sure he got out before he ran out of energy.

A whisper would come from the caverns, calling his name, he took a step back and then peered around carefully. Vegeta heard it again, softly sounding his name in a gentle manner. Narrowing his eyes, he moved with a great degree of caution and alertness. Soon the entrance disappeared from sight as a rumble could be felt shifting the cave like an earthquake. When he looked back, his exit was blocked by a wall. The maze had shifted as he walked in a certain distance. Looking ahead once more, he had little alternative but to follow the passageways and the whispering voice.

As he walked through the dark caverns, he felt a shift in the air around him, the dampness allowed water to drip down around him. Several drops hit his shoulder and he pressed on even more as the maze seemed to twist and bend. Again he stopped as the maze began to shift. If he wasn't lost then, he was now. Once more the voice whispered to him and he moved on, seeking out the voice as it grew louder.

Finally as he reached the center of this great shifting labrynth, it opened up to a vast cavern, 700 feet tall and 2,000 feet in all directions from where he stood in the center. Then all stopped and he stood there in quiet in the center of the maze. Whispering could be heard coming from all directions as he stood there. Then slowly he gazed upward and that's when he seen a sword of such fine craftsmanship that he stared upon it. There was no way of knowing who it was for but he continued to gaze around taking in the cavern.

A ghost came forward first and he wore the clothing of a Saiyan King. He stepped back a moment to watch this ghost as he otherwise held his ground. Soon, more were approaching from all directions. He quietly stayed still, though he hated crowds no matter if they were ghosts or not. Silently they circled around him as he stood there, as if they were making sure he was the only Saiyan Prince from the Planet Vegeta.

Soon they parted and the Saiyan's gaze looked up to a massive form, again more of them coming forth, blue, red, green, silver, and white dragons now surrounded him. Never before had he seen a dragon and now they were all around him. They again conviened amongst themselves when a gold dragon finally came forth. They were all massive, proud, and he knew they were the voices he had heard. Ghost and dragon were both here and he knew this place was a more sacred place than any other in the Realm.

Finally the golden dragon lowered his head to Vegeta's level, his massive head was nearly as large as the Prince was tall. Eye contact was made and the tendriled dragon appeared wise and noble. He looked at Vegeta for a long time and then once more looked at the other dragons. Then all went silent as he spoke up. "You have been fighting long and hard. We summoned you back here for a special purpose Vegeta. This gathering of the dragon clans is not something that happens often, maybe once in a 1,000 years of a mortal's life."

Vegeta looked at these creatures before him, a look of confusion and question crossed his expression. "Then mind if I asked why you summoned me back here in the maze? It'll be a time trying to get back out."

A red dragon spoke up this time as he gazed fiercely down toward the Saiyan. The dragons had always kept apart from the influences of the Shadow Dragon, Syn, to keep his evil from taking any effect upon them. The dragon spoke at last. "Never has a slave from Jronia found this place twice. However a new rumor has begun flowing through the City. A rumor of a "Ghost" that steals slaves from the people. Theft is not right, but in this case, we have carefully viewed it over and we have summoned the Ancient Saiyan Kings as well, which are the ghosts you have seen."

Vegeta's breath caught in his throat as the other dragons looked at him, the silver now speaking. "Jronia has turned evil through the influence of Syn. He plans on ravaging many more places, though he has set his eye upon you. You are unusual and in that, it has drawn his attention."

As the blue dragon spoke up the other ghosts also appeared and upon hearing of who they were, Vegeta's head lowered, his eyes cast to the ground. Never had he felt such a shame as he did now, standing before them with a collar around his throat. Slowly the blue dragon watched him and then grinned lightly. "You have been forced to your status, it is not who you are. Lift your eyes Vegeta, you have been fighting what most would have been calling an impossible fight. Timid only enough to get what you need to survive, yet wild enough to not submit to them without fight. You are a true neutral in stance and behavior. This Lair is now your safe haven and you will carry the name of Ghost to legend. You should be proud of your accomplishments for none other has been given that title. From here on out, this Lair will be known as the Ghost's Lair."

Vegeta lifted his eyes again and he knew that any who conviened with the Ancient Saiyan Kings was deemed for respect. One of the ghosts lowered the blade down to him and before the Prince it hovered. He grasped the blade and felt a part of his power become sapped as he held it, as though a part of his own self was taken into the sword. He let it go when he could and fell to the floor of the cave. It had taken everything he had left. His strength had been completely drained as he lay barely conscious upon the floor.


	24. Dragon's Maze

**Chapter 23**

**The Dragon's Maze**

Long moments would pass as the others watched him. It had taken all he had to get this far and his exhaustion was now plain. He had pushed himself to the Super Saiyan form which had sapped him more. When the blade took the energy, he simply had no energy left for even standing his golden hair and green eyes faded to black. Blue had been brought to the Lair while he was resting and as she was assured, the golden dragon stayed by Vegeta's side.

Silently, the dragon laid beside the weary Saiyan as he kept a guard over him. Hunters had come out and about hunting for the Lair and for them. For the first time in such a long span of time, he was safe from their vicious ways, and he rested even more. Vegeta had been nestled up to the dragon as the mighty creature would carefully wrap his front arms around him and lay the thick neck over the Saiyan to keep him warm.

When he woke at last, he stood up and the sword lay upon the ground, sheathed with a thin belt fastened to it for easier carrying. His coal eyes moved to the blade resting upon the floor and the dragon allowed him up and with a bit of hesitation he picked it up. It was perfectly balanced, light, yet strong. Fastening it around his waist, he looked to the golden dragon. Soon the creature lifted to his full height of 300 feet tall.

Vegeta stood there for a moment before finally gazing back at the surrounding maze. "How do I find my way out?"

The dragon grinned, and then began teaching him the ways of the maze, of the Lair. This alone would take several months. Every shift, every pitfall, trap, and dead end was shown to him to the point where he had it memorized so thoroughly there was no questioning. During the times he wasn't eating, resting, or learning the maze, he practiced with the blade, becoming more and more proficient at the art of sword fighting. It was now to the point where it was second nature of where to go, how to get there, and what to do. He also knew the other creatures of which resided in the Lair.

Vegeta had spent countless hours in study and training in the ways of the Lair and its many creatures, how to approach each and stealth unsurpassed. Finally the golden dragon grinned after nine months of intense training and study. He learned secrets untold and unknown by any other than the dragon clans and when the golden dragon nodded, he gave a grin. "Go now Vegeta and use your gifts wisely. Your state of neutrality is your greatest weapon. If ever you have need of the services of a dragon, you will be granted that which you most desire. My name is Drython, the eldest of the Gold Dragon Clan. You must be off now, your wife awaits in the entrance of the Lair."

Quickly, the Prince turned on heel and ran for the maze, his eyes adjusting quickly to the dark passages of the labrynth. He soon found his way back and found that she was indeed there and waiting for his return. When they were reunited, she gave him a hug and presented their child to him, Vegerain was what Blue had named the child. In a way he liked it, but in a way, he wished the child to be named in the same manner he had been, after a world that once was strong and proud.

Holding his son in his arms, he knew deep down that the fight he had been in was just beginning. The fight to keep a family would be intense and his coal eyes looked up to her quietly, the fear and joy of being a father in this City was evident upon his brow. He gave a moment of peace to them. For once he was again proud of being a father and now knew how his own father must have felt. The Saiyan Prince would grin silently as he became lost in the feeling of the moment wishing it could forever stay this way.

Several more months would pass going on the second year. By this time, Vegeta had gained a knowledge of the Southern Forest that was as yet unmatched. He knew the paths, the shortcuts, the dead end trails, the dangerous pits which if one wasn't careful would catch the unwary traveler. His footfalls were completely silent, his prints no longer showed if he didn't want them to and he became more and more like a ghost.

However their life was anything but simple during the months that followed. Hunters set traps and nets hoping to snare the elusive slaves that seemed to disappear without trace. Vegeta had made it a point to take the lead out of the Lair first. He could easily lose the hunters in the forest without much trouble. He knew how to escape without problem and his senses were always alert. Skittish as a deer and unable to be caught, the rumors soon turned to legend in the City of Jronia and the Southern Forest would become dubbed as Ghost's Domain.

Sitting in the Lair quietly, he had taken the time to make a mural of life in Jronia, all aspects of what had gone on. Often he would disappear into the depths of the Lair to take time away from the pressures that had settled upon him. It was his time of being able to plot, plan, or just to simply relax. However, he enjoyed a good hunt out in the forest, the open fresh air was a great tension releaser. He would stalk his prey silently so as not to alert the animal he hunted, always trying to pick off the weakest. He knew the importance of making his resources last as long as possible. With a single deer, he could live for a few weeks in the forest with enough to eat and drink.

It was only about three years in that the hunts upon him and his family grew more intense. The trackers were trained expertly and Vegeta had to make sure that nothing shown sign that he was there. Twigs had to be left unscathed, the forest floor had to be untouched, and animals couldn't be spooked. Ever alert, he was always listening for when his hunts turned into being hunted and he was always quick on his feet. Several times he was chased, and each time Vegeta would seem to vanish without trace, he never went out in a normal state. His hair was always gold and his eyes green. He had the power to kill them with ease and yet he would play their little game until they camped out for the night.

In the darkness of the shadowy night, he would go from tree to tree, landing silently on the branch above them. He would watch them, waiting for when they were about to bed down for the night before he would take the canteen he had and place it upon a branch. Lashing it securely to the stick, he then moved to yet another tree and there he pulled on the slender vine that would tip the canteen and pour the water out, ultimately putting out the flame quickly. Wherever the water was poured from, they fired wasting arrows on empty air. Vegeta grinned upon this and watched as they scanned above for him.

Huddled together beneath him, he would tie old beer bottles to a couple of the branches and let the wind whistle over them. The result was an eerie sound that made the hunters themselves very jumpy. The Dark Prince would jump to a tree some distance away before he jumped down and powered into his Super Saiyan form, allowing the ground itself to quiver under the raw strength. Then silently he would walk upon the camp and stand at the edge while the now frightened hunters gazed in fear at him.

Pointing one finger like a gun toward the lead hunter he only spoke softly just barely above a whisper. "Bang."

A split second later the lead hunter lay dead, shot through his chest with a ki blast. He gazed to the others who stood there in horror and then finally powering a small ball in his hand he launched it. No one would survive his attack that night, and with it, the hunts started to slow down once more. Once back at the Lair he found out one thing, he had been followed. He intended to lose them in the labryinth and from there, let nature take its course.


	25. Lethal Games

**Chapter 24**

**Lethal Games**

Vegeta could only grin as he led the hunter into the Lair and then into the maze. What a perfect time to try out the labrynth and its many pitfall traps along the way. Slowing up so the hunter could keep up but just out of reach, the tracker couldn't see the sly smirk upon the Saiyan's face. The only thing the hunter knew was that it was dark and the maze was becoming all the more confusing.

Laughing ever so lightly, the Dark Prince knew that the fun was only just beginning as he reached a certain point in the Lair and it shifted. Already jumpy from the night's raid upon the camp, the hunter turned around and when he seen the wall behind him he gave an audible gulp. He heard the Ghost whisper back to him. "Come on, you're doing so well right now. We don't want to stop this hunt now do we and spoil the fun?"

Turning down yet another corridor, the tracker moved through the damp passages, his hand along the wall when fire flared out just barely in front of him. Vegeta merely laughed. "That was close, should watch out for things like that. Come on now, don't you want to catch me?"

Grumbling under his breath, he followed again when the flames died out and then again the maze would shift. He walked out to the vast cavern and there he really became lost. There was no telling what path to take to get back out and his "guide" seemed to have vanished into thin air. He chose yet another passageway and then a scream echoed throughout the maze, then silence as it faded away. The hunter had fallen victim to a bottomless pit.

Vegeta came out from behind the next corridor and peered down the depths of the pit and raised a brow. He listened for the bottom as he curiously gazed down into the blackened depths. He shrugged his shoulders and would simply turn and walk back towards the entrance again. "Pity, just when I was beginning to have fun too, you had to fall down a damn bottomless pit. Oh well, maybe the next one will get farther than that."

As he turned back into the Lair's entrance, he noted how cold it was and so, taking a few twigs, some duff, and a log, he put it together in a log cabin formation and lit the fire with a small burst of ki energy. His coal eyes gazed to the entrance and he grinned lightly. The fire was small and smokeless but as he closed off the back part to the labrynth, it served to heat the smaller cave up nicely. Coal eyes again moved to Blue and Rain when they had returned to the Lair and a grin crept across his face.

Blue looked to him questioningly and a grin came to her face as well as she gazed curiously at his expression. "What's so funny if I may ask?"

Vegeta couldn't help but to laugh again. "Oh, had some fun with a hunter though it was too bad that he fell down the bottomless pit. I was just thinking of how fun it would be to get him so completely lost in the Lair."

Blue looked at him in partial shock. "You had a hunter here in the Lair? Vegeta what are we to do if one escapes?"

The Saiyan Prince narrowed his eyes quietly. "They won't escape, I'll kill them before they get back to Jronia. No one will know of this place and live to tell about it. It is the only safe haven we have for the family. I won't jepordize it on petty enthusiasm. I know the risks all too well."

Her blue eyes grew a bit furious as she stopped him from going back into the maze. Then blue met black as he spun around and looked to her fiercely. Blue stood firm. "That's what you just did, risked the family for your petty amusements. There's something more here and you have a family to protect. I've been thinking of adopting another child, one that needs us. We need the Vegeta more than we need the Ghost. You are a leader Vegeta, other people need you to lead them. You can't do that if you're dead."

Vegeta scowled, his brow furrowing deeply as he kept his gaze steady upon her. His coal eyes flashed with a bit of rage at what she was reminding him of. "I'm the only Saiyan Prince, Blue. I know the weight of which rests on my shoulders more than any ever will. I have nightmares of that place every damn night that I try to get a decent night's sleep. Being dead is better than living like a coward, constantly hiding from hunters and others that I know I can take out with ease. You can either help me with my burdens or you can become part of them, that choice is your's. Go ahead and do as you please, I'm not going to hold you back from the adoption. However, I will not be the father for a whole mess of kids because you feel too damn sorry for them."

In a swirl of anger and seething rage, he turned and disappeared back into the Lair, his coal eyes adjusting again to the dark passages. His focus was off, and he needed to get them back if he were to survive whatever the hunters would throw next. Not thinking of the next step of his plan or losing sight of it could be disasterous and he knew it. The weight on his shoulders felt like it was a mountain range pulling him this way and tugging him in another.

Blue was furious as she watched him storm away from her like that, blaming him for reckless actions. She held Rain up close to her and could only wait for the time when he would return. Looking up on the walls, she found the murals and stared at them silently, seeing everything he had not yet talked about from his time here in Jronia. On a seperate wall was the mural of him when he was young with his father beside him. Then she realized just how much he had changed since that time.

No longer was Vegeta the carefree child with the grand hopes of ruling the Saiyan planet. Never more would his dreams be of such a grand scale. She had seen it in his eyes this night, in the small argument that he was trying to merely do one thing, survive. Gazing back to the back part of the Lair she let her eyes lower to the ground. Feeling guilty for her words, she had lashed out at him when he was simply trying to have a little fun, but she knew the risks were great. The full story of why the hunter was in the Lair would never be spoken about nor explored by questioning.

Vegeta soon appeared back at the center of the Lair where he paced furiously for some time. His coal eyes danced in the darkness as he lit a couple torches. The flames danced in the stillness of the cave and reflected in the Saiyan Prince's darkened gaze. He thought about it for a time as he watched the flames flicker and rage, much like he was doing silently inside. His own heart screamed in defiance of his life as a slave.

Again the Prince began to fight the black steel band around his throat, trying in a vain deperate hope that it would come off and allow him his freedom. It remained upon his throat securely fastened keeping him trapped to a place he wanted to just vanish from his mind, to wake up warm in bed when he was just a small child. He would fight the collar all the more only to receive a powerful shock when he had fought it for too long. He sank to his knees from the pain and trembled. He hated it with such a deep fiery passion, one could not put it into words.

Silently he paced the cavern, his mind racing. After a time, he finally lost the edge of his anger and began to look upward again. The Royal Sword had been put away for the time being but he remembered gazing upon it for the first time here in the Lair. His coal eyes then gazed back the way he had come and he took a deep breath. He needed more time away so as not to come back with a temper he was well noted for.

Vegeta quietly sat down and finally relaxed, letting his mind blank out into a meditation. His coal eyes closed and his mind went back to a time he was free, when he wandered alone in the stars above. It was a time he had no cares except to do as he pleased when he pleased. For a time, he returned to the silence of space away from the madness of this City, away from everyone and everything. Whole planets passed the pod window and stars off in the distance formed a sense of security around him that could not otherwise be found.

When he came to again in the Lair, he looked around and found his body had completely relaxed. He had stopped shivering from the rage that had built up inside him as his eyes focused on the dim lighting the torches gave off around him. He found he could think clearer, his thoughts were faster and more precise. There was no denying that he had found his mental solitude by which he would learn was the only means of escaping this place.

Soon he looked toward the maze before him, and his coal eyes narrowed lightly as he thought for a moment. The labrynth had been created for three reasons. First off was to provide a safe haven for him and his family which could find the safety in the maze in a different location. Second, was to be able to lure the hunters in to give him the advantage of getting them seperated, lost, and eventually to kill them if the Lair's traps and pitfalls didn't do that first. Finally, it served a passageway through the dangerous mountain range by which he could get the slaves free of Jronia's grasp and beyond their reach.

Standing up, he knew then that was how he had to do this. The slaves were no longer to be released deep in the forest, but taken through the Lair. He was chosen to be their guide, their means of hope and he alone could only hope to give others what he could not gain himself, their freedom. A white gloved hand reached up to his collar as he fingered it gently knowing it would not come off so easily. Quietly he began to head back for the entrance once more.

The event of him having a hunter in the Lair would go undiscussed as his coal eyes rose to Blue's own. "From here on out, expect what had happened here today. I was given charge of this Lair and it's built to do more than just house a family. It is a means of freeing slaves that would otherwise not have a chance. If you don't like the choices I have reached then I suggest we find another place for the family. My life does not have the luxuries of safety. I've told you that when we first met that it would not be easy. Now you have that same choice to make. You can help me with this burden, or you can become part of it. I however no longer have that decision, I know what I must do now at whatever cost it comes to."

Blue looked at him in astonishment that he had put it so bluntly to her. She looked down at Rain and then looked to him. "What about being there for Rain when he grows up? Who'll teach him how to fight and to avoid the traps made by a hunter?"

Vegeta looked to Rain and then to her. "Our son will know that we love him no matter what happens. If needbe, we can take him to Kienna's and have her raise him as her own. That may be the better option anyway."

Blue seemed horrified at that thought. "Vegeta, you're talking of giving up our only child to one of them! How can you think such a thing as that?"

The Ghost looked to her quietly, his coal eyes shown nothing, not even the fact of the deep thoughts he had put into this. There was no way of letting her know how much he hated the notion as well. "Kienna is a good person and since my arrival has given me more care than any one else. She and I have become friends and I'm not about to let my child live in shame by ducking and cowering away from hunters. I will not let my son share the same fate as I. He will have his freedom without worry of having to hide as we do. That is no life for a child, and I refuse to put him through such. Get him ready, I'll drop him off tonight when I go for a raid in the City. He will live a good, normal life."

Blue was in tears by hearing him, seeing that he spoke from his heart and had already made up his mind. "Think of what you're saying! He won't be happy without us. Just because you lost your father when you were young does not mean that he has to lose his parents. Quit being so damn selfish!"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes taking his son into his arms. "You told me I had a family to protect and that's what I'm doing. I'm not the one being selfish either. I'm wanting merely a chance to get our son a life to live with freedom. Do you think you can give him that and look after him all the time? How happy do you think he'll be if every rustle of a bush sends him fleeing in terror thinking it could be a hunter? If you keep the child then you'll have to take him to a different place. I can't watch over him all the time. I have food to get, and supplies to make sure are ready."

Silently he gripped a shoulder gently yet with a firm grasp. "I have Saiyans and slaves that need me for guideance. I have a family I need to make sure is happy and protected the way a father should. Do not blame me for what was forced upon me and transfer it to our son. What you said about my father was cruel, I hope someday you realize just how much I have done for the both of us. Then think about what you had just called me Blue. You're views will drastically change."

He gave Rain back to her and then finally he walked away. What was to come next would solely rest upon Blue's own decision. Ghost could not force her to do as he would wish. He respected her more than that and in that manner, he had left it to her. Between him and the hunters, life was a lethal game he couldn't afford to lose.


End file.
